


Out Of The Woods

by rosehathawhey



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-02-22 22:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2523776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosehathawhey/pseuds/rosehathawhey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth has been looking forward to starting college for as long as she can remember and some jerk bartender isn't about to ruin that for her. Bethyl College AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty then! This is my first fic so I hope you guys enjoy it. This first chapter is pretty short but it's getting progressively longer with each chapter so this is gonna turn out to be a pretty big story. Happy reading! Let me know what you think! :)

   Five hundred pounds, it had to be _at least_ five hundred pounds!

   Beth wasn’t sure how it was possible for clothes to be so heavy, but it turned out that the entire contents of her closet weren’t as easy to carry as she’d thought. Giving up, she dropped the duffel bag to the ground and began kicking it along. A boy passing her in the hallway smirked at her struggle but made no attempt to help her.

   “Asshole.” She huffed out, finally arriving in front of her door. Except instead of entering she stood frozen, trying not to let the full extent of her nerves take over. This was what she had wanted so why was she so afraid? It wasn’t like her mama and daddy were more than an hour’s drive away. She’d see her friends on breaks, and even Jimmy had promised to visit her if his dad ever gave him a break from their farm. For God’s sake, Maggie was ten minutes away!

   “Freedom,” Beth reminded herself. “Fun, learning, traveling, freedom again.” She let her thoughts run over everything she had hoped for in these next four years. With a deep breath she was resolved. These were going to be the best four years of her life. She would make sure of it. Beth raised her hand to open the door, but it swung open before she could reach for the handle.

   “I thought that was you! What the hell are ya doing just standing out here?!”

   The girl who was presumably her roommate, Rosita, stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. Beth took her in with wide eyes. Her hair was pulled out of her face in innocent looking pigtails, but Beth would be damned if Rosita wasn’t wearing the shortest skirt that she had ever seen.

   A grunt a few feet away alerted Beth to her father and Otis carrying her mattress down the narrow hall. She could only imagine their reaction on seeing the girl that she was going to be sharing a bedroom with all year.

   Beth’s face slowly broke out into a grin. Even if college didn’t turn out to be everything she hoped, it would sure be interesting.

* * *

    “Why the hell didn’t you tell me we were out of peach schnapps?”

    Daryl looked up from cleaning glasses to see his boss, Abe, clutching a near empty bottle of peach schnapps, an annoyed expression on his face.

   Not stopping what he was doing, Daryl simply shrugged. “Because who in this bar would ever order peach schnapps?”

   A snort from the bar’s entrance alerted Daryl and Abe to Merle’s presence. Twenty minutes late, of course. Merle sauntered up to the bar with a smirk that made Daryl grit his teeth. After dragging Daryl out to party the previous night, Merle had of course slept in all morning while Daryl got up to open the bar. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the night; it just pissed him off that he had to do extra work while hungover.

   “College girls,” Merle explained. “They all come back this week so you’d best get used to mixing drinks, brother. Your days of opening a beer and calling it a day are over.”

   Daryl groaned inwardly at the thought. How could he have been so stupid? When Merle had told him his old buddy, Abe, was looking for help in his bar he had agreed immediately. He had been looking for a chance to bring up going straight to Merle for a long time, so he hadn’t been about to pass on one. Especially since he’d assumed it would be serving beer to a bunch of grimy old assholes who spent their night quietly getting drunk before going home to their pissed off wives. Which is exactly what it had been for the past month that he and Merle had worked here. Maybe it was the fact that he’d never gone to college, but the fact that The Moonshine Shack was within walking distance of three college campuses had never occurred to him.

   The gleam in Merle’s eyes alerted Daryl to the fact that his brother had most definitely thought about it though. A sinking feeling in his chest told him that his and Merle’s already too small place was about to see a string of drunk college girls come through. Girls who were dumb enough to go home with his brother, at least. So much for easy money.

* * *

   “I’ll be fine, Daddy! Mama please tell him I’ll be alright!”

   Annette just smiled and shook her head, standing back while Hershel hovered close to Beth. Her daddy had been making up excuses not to leave since the second that had finished setting up her room over an hour ago. Poor Otis had finally given up trying to get him to leave. Instead he had wrapped Beth up in a bear hug that nearly crushed her ribs, said goodbye, and went to find food for their ride home.

   Rolling her eyes at her mother’s clear entertainment, Beth decided to break out the big guns. She moved forward to wrap Hershel in a tight embrace. Thankfully, this seemed to get his attention.

   “I’m just worried about ya, Bethy.”

   Beth extended her arm out to include her mother in their hug. “I know, Daddy, but I promise I’ll call every day. And I promise not to get a single tattoo while I’m here!”

   “You’d better not,” Hershel chuckled, “Or you’ll have your mother to answer to.”

   “Besides, Maggie will look out for me.”

   With a quick kiss to Beth’s forehead Annette stepped back. “You look out for Maggie too, ya hear?”

   Beth promised that she would and kissed her parents one last time before they grudgingly headed home. With a heavy sigh she flung herself back onto the bed, happy to finally have a moment alone.

   Oh my god, she was alone here. All she had here was Maggie and Beth was sure that Maggie would be bust during her final year of college. Tears began to well up in her eyes before she forced them back. “No,” she told herself firmly, “You do not get to cry.”

   Resolved, Beth sat up just as the door unceremoniously flew open for the second time in as many hours. Rosita rushed in and jumped onto Beth’s bed with her.

   “Thank _god_ they’re gone. No offense or anything, but now we can start to have some fun!”


	2. Chapter 2

   If someone had a gun pointed to her head Beth still wouldn’t be able to tell them how she had ended up here. One minute she and Rosita were lying in their beds, exchanging parental horror stories. Then the next minute they were shivering outside some run-down dive bar a few blocks from their dorm. It was Beth’s own fault, she decided, for mentioning that her brother, Shawn, had given her a fake ID.

   “Better to get a legit looking one from me than some shady one that’ll get taken away the first time you flash it at a bouncer,” he’d explained.

   Rosita had squealed at the sight of it and produced her own from her desk drawer. That had settled the matter, they were going drinking.

   It wasn’t even that Beth didn’t want to go to a bar. When Shawn had given her the ID she had been ecstatic. This whole thing was just happening too quickly. The only time she had ever drank alcohol before was one measly wine cooler this past summer. Beth had just always assumed that her first time going out drinking would be- Well, she hadn’t known what it would be, but she definitely didn’t picture it being with a girl she barely knew at the world’s creepiest looking establishment.

   “Beth. Beth. Beth!” Rosita called, pulling her from her thoughts. “This handsome man wants to see your ID.”

   “Oh right!” Beth stuttered, pulling the ID out of her pocket and observing the man in charge of the door. ‘Handsome’ definitely wouldn’t have been the first word Beth used to describe him. ‘Intimidating’ probably would have been more accurate. His hair was cropped short and from the way he held himself, Beth was sure that he had been in the military. Whether or not he really had, Beth would still place her bets on this man in a fight.

   The man scanned her ID quickly before handing it back to her with a smirk. “You’re twenty four, huh?” His tone told her that he knew she wasn’t but he made no moves to stop her and Rosita as they entered the bar.

   The Moonshine Shack wasn’t quite as decrepit looking as the exterior would have you believe, but Beth knew that “dive bar” really had been the perfect description of it. Different signs about hunting and drinking in excess littered the dark walls. There was even the stereotypical dartboard that was currently being used by two unsavory looking men. The rest of the patrons weren’t much better. Rosita and Beth were by far the youngest people in the bar, and the only women. All the men sitting with their beers turned when they entered. Thankfully all they did was give them an appreciative once over before going back to minding their own business.

   The bartender took one look at them, rolled his eyes, and continued to pour beers. He had long hair that covered up most of his eyes, but even from a distance they looked hostile. Beth swallowed and pulled Rosita back against the wall.

   “I don’t think this was a good idea.”

   Rosita laughed at Beth’s uneasiness, “Don’t even worry about it, hun! I talked to a buncha people at orientation and they all told me that this place is way easy to get served at.” Rosita jerked her head towards the bartender. “We already got in so he’s gonna serve us. Besides,” her grin turned predatory, “Even if he gives us trouble I’ll handle him.”

   Looking at Rosita, Beth was sure that she would be able to get any guy in here to eat off the floor. _Suck it up_ , Beth told herself for the hundredth time tonight. She carried herself as if she had every right to be at this bar as she walked up to the bar and sat down.

   “Hi there,” Rosita grinned and winked at the bartender. “Jack and coke, please.”

   The man simply stared at them for a moment before obeying. Rosita seemed to realize right away that he wasn’t going to be charmed by her advances and let her smile drop. She didn’t seem affected by his hard stare though, which was surprising. If this man had given Beth a dirty look like that she would have shriveled up and attempted to disappear. When he turned to pour Rosita’s drink, Beth could see his jacket had wings sewn onto the back.

“Cool jacket.” Beth blurted out without thinking. He turned his head to look at her and Beth blushed under his dark, blue gaze.

“It’s a vest.” He said simply as he placed a full glass in front of Rosita. His accent was thicker than hers and his voice was gravelly, probably from smoking.

   Beth looked him up and down and couldn’t help but ask, “Why the heck would you wear a vest over a jacket?”

   A man a few seats down snorted at her retort. “Damn Daryl, she’s got ya there.”

   Obviously this Daryl guy wasn’t one for conversation because he just stared at her coldly. Refusing to back down, Beth stared right back. The prolonged eye contact made the hair on her arms stand on end but Beth wasn’t going to give in first. Daryl wasn’t about to scare her away from this bar when she had every right to be here. Well, sort of.

   The sound of a throat clearing caused them both to break eye contact to stare at the man who had made the noise. It was a big, domineering man with the most ridiculous mustache Beth had ever seen.

   And he was obviously the boss from the way Daryl mumbled an apology and immediately asked her what she wanted to drink.

   Beth didn’t even try to hide the triumphant smirk that had spread across her face. “Can I get an orange juice and vodka, please? Thanks!”

   Daryl’s irritated look only made her smirk grow. Suddenly, Beth wasn’t feeling too nervous about being here. Who knew some redneck asshole was all she needed to make her feel relaxed?

* * *

 

   He wasn’t even embarrassed at the satisfaction he felt when she nearly choked on her first sip of her drink. Daryl could tell just by looking at her that she was one of those girls who was used to batting her eyelashes and immediately getting her way. It shouldn’t have bothered him so much, but it did. So instead of getting himself fired, Daryl ignored them and let Abe charm a good tip out of them. Every once in a while he’d make a noise in his throat to make it clear that he found them obnoxious. Each time the Beth girl would turn towards him, teeth gritted, but never saying anything.

   By their second drinks, Beth and Rosita had become increasingly more forthcoming with talking to the bar’s patrons. Well, Beth had become more forthcoming at least. Rosita had been loud and annoying from the start. While Beth’s entitlement clearly came from a naïve place, Rosita knew exactly what effect she had on men. Daryl was sure that Abe wasn’t going to make them pay for a single drink that night.

    After a particularly obnoxious story about Beth falling off her horse, Daryl was done with her cutesy bullshit.

   “So y’all are freshman, huh?” Daryl’s cold tone cut off the girl’s laughter. Rosita didn’t even give him the time of day, rolling her eyes and turning back to flirt with Abe. Beth, however, was clearly as irritated by him as he was by her, so she rose to the bait. “Sure fuckin’ act like it.”

   “Yeah, we are. Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass.”

   Daryl let out an involuntary hiss through his teeth. He hadn’t meant to show her that she’d hit a nerve, but he hadn’t been expecting that from someone who looked like her. Still, was that why he hated these girls so much? ‘Cause they were something that he’d never be?

   _Christ,_ he thought, he was not about to have some sort of internal beat down over some dumb college bitch.

Beth, for her part, seemed to realize she had gone too far and turned bright red. Her blue eyes burned with guilt.

“Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry. I-“

   Daryl had no desire to hear it. Turning away from her, he ignored her for the rest of the night. She kept trying to catch his eye, not saying another word from that moment on. He knew she wanted to apologize but Daryl was decided, he wasn’t dealing with this girl anymore. Finally he heard them get up to leave. Daryl felt a sense of relief wash over him at knowing that he would probably never see Beth again.


	3. Chapter 3

   Beth couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in her bed for hours after her and Rosita arrived back at the dorm room together. Wasn’t alcohol supposed to make you tired? It was that stupid Daryl guy! He’d just gotten under her skin so much, but what she’d said to him had been awful. And so not her. It was petty and meant to hurt him. The worst part was that she could tell that nothing she had said was anything that he didn’t already believe. Even if a single word of what she had said was true, Beth never wanted to be the kind of person to rub someone’s insecurities in their face.

   Finally giving up on sleep, Beth slipped out of the room to call Maggie. It was just barely five AM and the dorm hallway was still buzzing with activity. Apparently her and Rosita’s idea to go out and celebrate their newfound freedom wasn’t a unique one.

   Settling on the front steps of the building, Beth dialed Maggie and hoped that she would pick up.

   “Bethy?” Maggie answered after a few rings, sounding panicked. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Beth quickly assured her sister. “I’m sorry to wake ya, I just couldn’t sleep?”

   “Feelin’ nervous?”

   “Mhm,” Beth lied. Even though she hated lying to her sister, she didn’t think Maggie would understand her losing sleep over hurting the feelings of some jerk bartender.

   Sympathy seeped out of Maggie’s voice, making Beth’s stomach jolt with guilt. “Tara’s up early ‘cause she’s got some sort of physical testing today. Think she’s making eggs. Want me to come get you?”

   “Mom insisted on buying me a parking spot up here so I’ve got my car.”

   Maggie snorted. “If you can even call that thing a car! ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ is what I would go with.”

   Beth let out an exaggerated gasp. “My car is a work of art that you just aren’t intellectual enough to understand!” But with a glance towards her beat up Ford Explorer in the parking lot, Beth burst out laughing.

   “Shut up!” she said when Maggie started laughing too. “Or I won’t pick up any coffee on my way!”

   It only took Beth a couple of minutes to drive to Maggie’s. She would never admit it to her sister, but she had memorized the quickest route from her dorm to Maggie’s apartment months ago. Not that she was afraid college was going to be hard to adjust to or anything… It was just comforting to know that a piece of home was only a mile away. Plus, Maggie’s bed was _way_ comfier than the dorm mattresses so Beth would definitely be crashing there on a regular basis.

   Tara shoved a giant plate of eggs and bacon in front of her as soon as Beth had walked into the girl’s apartment.

   “Hey,” she grunted, her short hair falling out of the numerous clips she had put in it to hold it back. “Couldn’t sleep?”

   Beth simply nodded and dove into her plate. She had been to this apartment dozens of times since Maggie and Tara had moved in together two years previously. They had even invited her to live with them once she came to GSU, but Beth had insisted on having the “dorm room experience”.

   Tara plopped down next to Beth and grabbed one of the coffee’s that she had bought for them.

   “Maggie’ll be out in a minute. She decided to shower after you called.”

   “I feel bad that I woke her. Although now you’ve got someone to make sure that you don’t fall asleep on your way out the door again.”

   Beth laughed at Tara’s reaction, which was to flip her off. The previous year Tara had missed her first day at the police academy when she had somehow fallen asleep on the couch while walking to the front door.

   “It was Alisha’s birthday the night before! I’d barely gotten an hour of sleep!”

   Beth shook her head in mock disapproval. “Sure, blame your poor girlfriend who isn’t here to defend herself.”

   “Actually, she is.” Beth and Tara turned as Maggie walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed for the day. “Every night. She is here every single night but refuses to give up her own apartment and just move in here.”

   Tara rolled her eyes, “She claims it would be ‘too much pressure.’ ”

   Beth let out an involuntary laugh at that, “Haven’t you guys been together for like two years?”

   “Three…” Looking over at her closed bedroom door, Tara lowered her voice. “Anyone who tells you girls are easier to date than guys- they’re lying.”

   Maggie, who had walked around the counter to grab a coffee, slouched over the counter across from Beth. ‘I think it’s just dating that sucks.” Beth wasn’t surprised that Maggie agreed. As much as she loved her sister, the girl had the worst taste in men that Beth had ever seen.

   “Anyway,” Maggie continued, “What’s up, Bethy? Ya haven’t even started classes yet and you’re already staying up all night worrying?”

   Since she hardly wanted her sister to know that the first thing she’d done as a college student was to go out drinking, Beth wasn’t sure what to say. Instead, she settled for a noncommittal shrug.

   Maggie and Tara exchanged a knowing glance.

   “What’s his name?” they asked in unison. Beth’s eyes widened at their expression. She knew what they were thinking and she didn’t like it.

   “No!” Beth exclaimed. “It’s not like that!” The girls just continued to stare. “I mean, yeah it’s a guy. But it’s not a _guy_ guy. It just happens to involve a guy.”

   “Hm… Call me crazy but I’m sensing that there’s a guy in this story.”

   Beth put her head down on the counter and moaned. “I just don’t want you guys thinking it’s like that. It’s _not_ like that!”

   Maggie started laughing at her desperate tone, but came around to kiss Beth on the cheek. “Okay, okay, we believe you. Now tell us what happened.”

   After a long exhale, Beth lifted her head up and explained. “ My roommate and I went out last night,” Maggie’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you look at me like that! You’ve done way worse than go sit at a bar with a girlfriend! Anyway, there was this guy, Daryl, there. He was a real jerk, but still… I said something awful to him. I could tell that it _really_ upset him, and I know I shouldn’t even care but it’s just not me.”

   “Well the good part is that you’ll probably never see him again.” Tara said through a mouthful of bacon.

   “Plus, freshman boys are more resilient than you’d think. They get rejected on a regular basis.” Maggie and Tara both burst out laughing at that, and Beth decided it was probably best not to correct them about Daryl’s age.

   “You’re right.” She agreed, eager to change the subject. It was stupid of her to be worrying about this anyway. This was hardly the first time she had ever hurt someone’s feelings, and Daryl was a grown man who could handle himself. At this point he had probably already shrugged off her comment and forgotten about Beth.

* * *

 

   “Holy shit!” Merle moaned, sinking into their dirty couch and slipping his shoes off. “One thing I hate about this damn job is standing all night.”

   Daryl walked over to the kitchen and grabbed two beers out of the fridge, handing one to Merle as he sunk down next to him. 

   “Merle, you don’t do jack shit at that job. I’m the one who cleans shit up and has to deal with those guys nonstop.”

   His brother let out a snicker. “Not for long. With all those kids startin’ to come I’m gonna have to make some kinda system about who to let in and who to tell to fuck off.”

   This was the last thing Daryl wanted to talk about, but he knew Merle well enough to detect the hint of excitement in his voice. As long as he didn’t bring up Beth and her friend, Daryl didn’t care. “So how the hell does Abe get away with letting a bunch of underage kids in?”

   “That Officer Walsh guy who comes in sometimes-“

   “Shane.” Daryl interrupted.

   “Yeah, Shane. He moved here ‘bout two years ago and they set up some kind of system then. I think he just takes a cut of what Abe makes.” Merle chugged the last of his beer and walked over to get a new one, discarding the empty bottle on the ground. “Who even gives a shit as long as we’re making good money while hanging out with a bunch of babes.” Merle let out a low whistle, “How about them girls tonight?”

   Daryl cringed. “They were okay.”

   “Okay?! That Rosita girl looked wild! You just know she’d let you do whatever the fuck you wanted to her. Abe seemed to be zeroing in on that, so probably best not to go after the boss’ girl. The blonde looked kinda uptight, but that could just mean she’s got a secret kinky side.”

   “Beth.” Daryl said curtly, shooting up and walking over to dump the rest of his beer down the sink. “I highly doubt it. She was a bitch.”

   “The pretty ones always are, baby brother. Don’t mean they aren’t a good lay.”

   “Man, stop it, I don’t wanna talk about work anymore.” Daryl grabbed Merle’s discarded beer off the ground and slammed it into the garbage can.

   “Jesus, Daryl. Calm down!” Merle yelled after him, but Daryl had already walked into his bedroom and shut the door.

   Instead of diving down onto the bed and passing out like always, Daryl stood against the door and examined his room. There were clothes strewn everywhere and an empty plate even sat on top of one of the piles. He was probably used to the smell, but Daryl was sure anyone new in the room would think it smelled disgusting. For Christ’s sake, he didn’t even have a bed frame. He was a grown man who slept on a mattress on the floor, on sheets that probably hadn’t been changed in months. Did he even have a second pair of sheets?

   Roughly rubbing his hands over his eyes, Daryl began to gather up all the piles of clothes and shove them into a corner. He didn’t have a laundry basket so he’d have to take them to the laundromat in a garbage bag.

   _Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass._

He’d go do his laundry now and then tomorrow he’d go buy a bed frame and some new sheets. Daryl was good at saving his money so he probably had enough of it stocked up to go and buy decent ones.

   _Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass._

Daryl felt a crunch under his boots and looked down to see a shattered chip where his foot had just been. He’d have to buy a broom too.

   _Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass._

Finally, his clothes were all in one pile against his wall. Grabbing the dirty plate, Daryl walked out to wash it and then find a garbage bag. He stopped cold when he saw Merle passed out on the couch, an open pill bottle laying on the coffee table.

   _Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass._

What was he doing? Letting some random girl’s words get under his skin like this. She didn’t know jack shit about his life! With a sigh, Daryl walked over and grabbed the half empty beer bottle that Merle still held, spilling the liquid out onto the floor every time he snored. Putting the plate down into the sink, Daryl wiped up the beer from the floor and then walked back into his room. His life was fine the way it was, he’d been living this way for thirty-seven years. He wasn’t going to change it because of the words of some college freshman who probably had the kind of life where “family dinner” was a regular thing. Daryl fell face down on his bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off.

   _Must suck to see all these young kids coming through here, bein’ more successful than your sorry ass._

Still, maybe tomorrow he would go buy some new sheets. Not because of Beth though, it’d probably just be nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! Hope you guys all have a good one!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: HOW ABOUT SLABTOWN, GUYS?! I have never been so sure that Beth is going to survive for many more seasons than I am after that episode! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter even 1/4 as much as I enjoyed that episode.

   “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Daryl mumbled under his breath as the door flung open for the hundredth time that night. The bar was already full of dumbass college kids, and now he had to deal with this?

   Beth and Rosita stood in the doorway, a small group huddled behind them, surveying the packed bar. Rosita’s eyes gleamed with excitement, but Beth looked wholly uncomfortable to be there. Almost immediately her eyes sought out Daryl and she took a step towards him, mouth opened in what he was sure was going to be another ridiculous apology.

   Throwing his bar towel down, Daryl grunted at Abe that he was going to the bathroom and stalked off. Pushing past all the idiots who obviously couldn’t figure out to move, Daryl shut himself into the bathroom. He slumped against the door, letting out a deep breath and rubbing his eyes vigorously.

   He shouldn’t have taken this fucking job in the first place. Bartenders were supposed to have good people skills, right? He sure as shit didn’t. Merle had promised him that it would just be a bunch of gruff, old drunks wanting a beer. Daryl knew how to handle those. But thinking about it, Merle must have known. There was no way that there was such a huge potential for his brother to get laid and he wasn’t aware of it.

   It was Daryl’s fault for wanting to go straight. If he hadn’t insisted on being done with the drugs and the guns then he wouldn’t be stuck here right now. With a sigh, Daryl knocked the back of his head against the door and exited the bathroom.

   The hallway was dark, but he couldn’t have missed her. Tiny, blonde Beth stood blocking his way out to the bar, arms crossed protectively in front of her body. Daryl rolled his eyes and attempted to push past her. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before and had spent his entire day bored out of his mind in a laundromat. Dealing with her was the last thing Daryl wanted to do right now.

   “Wait,” Beth put both hands on his chest, surprisingly strong as she pushed him back slightly. “Please. Please just listen to me.”

   She looked like a completely different person tonight. Her long hair was down and she wore dark, black eyeliner that only highlighted the color of her eyes. This close, with her hair falling in waves around her face, Daryl could smell her shampoo. Vanilla, and maybe some sort of flower? Unsettled, he pushed her hand off his chest and took a step back.

   “Jesus kid, what do you want?” Daryl saw the way that she flinched at his harsh tone, and felt the slightest bit of guilt. He knew that Beth hadn’t meant to hurt him with her comment about going nowhere. He’d been being a dick to her and she had retaliated. Not really her fault that she had hit a nerve. Still, he had no desire to talk about this with her so “harsh” was probably the way to go.

   Surprisingly though, she held her ground. “Listen. What I said last night… Well, it was really awful and I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever said anything that cruel to someone before. I just don’t know what came over me, but it’s no excuse.”

   “It’s nothin’.“ Daryl shrugged, and he meant it. The earnestness in her eyes had evaporated what was left of his anger. The issue was that it had been replaced with a tugging in his chest that he didn’t like. What he needed was to get past Beth in this hallway and avoid her for the rest of the night. “I’ve said worse when I’m drinking. Everyone has.”

   “Well I haven’t and I’m sorry.” Beth placed her hand on his arm and squeezed lightly. Daryl stiffened beneath her touch but she didn’t seem to notice.

   “S’fine…” Was all Daryl could manage to get out. All he wanted to do was break their eye contact and leave this situation, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Beth, for her part, seemed equally frozen. The way she was looking at him, so unsure about how he was feeling, made him feel like there was a lump forming in his throat. No one had ever been so concerned with how he felt before. Even Merle had always been quick to accept Daryl’s “I’m fine” so that they could continue on with whatever their next adventure was.

   Not this girl, though.

   After what seemed like forever, Beth dropped her hand and took a step backwards. Clearing her throat, she rubbed at her now red cheeks before speaking.

   “Well… My friends are probably wondering what’s taking me so long.”

   “Yeah, Abe probably needs me out there too.”

   Neither of them moved until unexpectedly, Beth stuck her hand out toward him.

   “I’m Beth, by the way. We never officially introduced ourselves.”

   As quickly as possible, Daryl took her hand and dropped it. “Daryl.” Was all he bothered to say before stepping past her and moving back towards the crowd.

* * *

 

   Everyone around her was having fun and Beth couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t. Well, she could, but the fact that she was so upset over the fact that some random man hated her was baffling. He didn’t even hate her! Daryl had accepted Beth’s apology, hadn’t he? Except then he had quickly brushed her off and avoided her gaze the same way that he had the previous night. Not that she should have been trying to catch his gaze in the first place. The whole thing was confusing the heck out of her and ruining her night.

   Beth was pulled out of her thoughts by Rosita calling her name. Their group, cramped in a little corner, were all staring at her expectantly.

   “Huh?”

   “You didn’t do your shot!” Hayley, one of the girls in their dorm hall, shouted over the noise.

   Beth looked down at the drink in front of her and grimaced. “Do I have to?”

   “Yes!” The group shouted in unison.

   “Alright, alright!” Beth laughed. “Here goes nothin’!” Squeezing her eyes shut, she downed the shot as quickly as possible. It burned even worse than the shot of vodka Rosita had made her do earlier and Beth couldn’t hold back a gag.

   “Ugh, what in God’s name is that?!”

   “Moonshine,” one of the guys that they’d come with, Zach, said deviously. Another one, who’s name she was fairly certain was Noah, passed her a glass of water. Beth shot him a grateful look and chugged it down.

   “Well I am _never_ drinking that ever again!” She declared as she finished the glass of water.

   Rosita laughed and leaned over to kiss Beth on the cheek. “Go get us something else then!”

   Beth glanced over at Daryl, unhappily manning the bar, then back at this new group of friends that she had made. Rosita, who she had connected with immediately. Hayley, Zach, and Noah, who made her laugh and feel like she wasn’t so alone this far away from home. No, she wasn’t about to let herself ruin tonight by moping over Daryl. She was at _college_!In a _bar_!

   Marching over to the bar, Beth pushed her way between two stools and rested her elbows on the counter. “Hey! Hey, you! Can I get some service down here?”

   Daryl turned at her obnoxious tone, clearly looking for a fight with whoever was calling to him like that. He stopped at seeing it was Beth and took in her amused smirk. Shaking his head in mock disapproval, he came to stand in front of her.

   “Jesus, whadya want?” He asked, mirroring his words from the hallway earlier.

   Beth felt a sense of triumph to see that he was grinning. Really, he wasn’t half bad looking. Maybe she just hadn’t noticed before because he’d been shooting daggers at her since the moment they’d met?

   She placed a hand over her heart, feigning offense. “Excuse me, but is that any way to talk to a paying customer?”

   “Last I seen you have yet to pay for a single drink in this bar.”

   Beth pretended to think about it and then shrugged. “Fair enough, but I’m here now to remedy that. Can I get six shots of something that is _not_ moonshine.”

   “You aren’t much of a drinker, are ya?”

   “I mean, not before… I guess this is what you’re supposed to do in college, right?”

   The way that shrugged indicated to Beth that he really didn’t know. Something about that made her sad. She wondered if he even had any family or if it was just Daryl.

   “Alright,” Daryl rapped his knuckles on the bar, cutting off the depressing train of thought that she had started on. “Did you like the vodka?”

   “No.” Beth wrinkled her nose at the thought of the clear liquid.

   “And no moonshine?”

   “No!”

   Daryl laughed at her reaction before turning to grab clean shot glasses. His laugh threw her off, she really wasn’t sure he was even someone capable of full on laughter, but she liked it. It only confirmed Beth’s original theory that Daryl really was handsome. Not able to help herself, she openly observed him as he examined the liquor bottles, trying to pick something that she would enjoy.

   It was a surprisingly warm night, even for Georgia. The past two weeks of September had been a relief after how brutally hot this summer had been. Tonight though, the air was once again stiflingly humid. Daryl’s long hair was stuck to his face, a trickle of sweat rolling down his cheek bone. He still wore the sleeveless Angel vest from the previous night, but now he had a sleeveless shirt underneath it as well. Beth stared at his arms, dark and toned, like he spent a lot of his time outdoors.

   Not able to stop herself, she pictured what her pale skin would look like next to his. Under him.

   Beth let out a gasp and took an involuntary step backwards. No, she was not about to have those thoughts about _this_ man. She didn’t even know him! Plus, even though he was being nice to her now didn’t mean that he wouldn’t turn on a dime and be cold to her like before. She wasn’t Maggie, Beth didn’t lust after the “bad boy” type.

   Not realizing how far she was moving back, Beth felt herself collide with something solid. The sound of a glass hitting the floor immediately after made her cringe.

   “Hey, what the hell!”

   Turning towards the victim of her clumsiness, Beth prepared herself for some heavy apologizing. Instead, she found herself face to face with the boy from the previous day who had ignored her struggle with her bag. “Oh, it’s you.”

   He seemed to recognize her too. “Wait, you live in Marshall Hall, right? I’m Ben.” He stuck his hand out to her and Beth shook it reluctantly. Something about him just seemed off to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Maybe his smile? It was clear that Ben was overly confident in his ability to charm.

   “I’m Beth.” She replied. Really, she could have stopped there since she had already apologized. But she heard her mother’s voice in her head, scolding her about politeness, making her feel like she owed Ben something.  “I’ll buy you another drink,” she finally said. “I really am sorry.”

   Ben stepped closer to her. “It’s okay. Be honest, did you just want an excuse to talk to me?”

   Beth fought back a gag and turned back towards the bar, wanting to end this situation as quickly as possible. She was surprised to see Daryl staring at them intently, teeth gritted, but he turned his head away when he saw her looking at him. This whole thing was giving her a headache.

   “Hey, Daryl. Can you make this guy another drink on me?” She turned to look at Ben. “What were you drinking?”

   Ben squeezed next to Beth. “Whatever you’re having.”

   Beth didn’t even bother to try hiding her eye roll at that embarrassing line. “Can ya just give him a shot of whatever this is?” she asked Daryl, gesturing to the tray of shot glasses on the bar in front of her.

   Daryl stared coldly at Ben as he spoke. “It’s tequila, figured it might go down a little easier than the other stuff. Ya sure you want to buy this guy one?”

   “Dude, it’s none of your business whether or not she wants to buy me a drink.” Ben scoffed.

   Daryl’s only response was to look at Beth questioningly.

“It’s fine, just make him-“

   Beth was cut off by the feeling of a hand slowly sliding down her back, landing on her butt. At first she just stood there, her mind not registering what was happening. Then she felt Ben’s hand squeeze and she reacted.

   “You shithead!” she yelled out, shooting away from Ben. Without even thinking it through, Beth grabbed a half empty glass on the bar and threw the drink in Ben’s face. “What the hell is wrong with you? You are so lame! I spilled your freakin’ drink, in what world is that considered a come on?”

   Not even bothering to wait for his response, Beth took a twenty out of her pocket and slammed it down on the bar. “Keep the change, Daryl. And do _not_ give this asshole a drink on me!”

   Picking up her tray of shots, Beth caught a glimpse of Daryl’s grin before stalking back to her table.


	5. Chapter 5

   It had been a full week since Daryl had last seen Beth. After telling off that shithead frat boy, she had stuck close to her friends for the rest of the night. Ben had glowered at her until she left, but he hadn’t bothered her again. Which was lucky for him, because Daryl was only willing to let Beth defend herself up to a certain point. If Ben had continued to harass her, Daryl would have kicked the shit out of him.

   When she had gotten up to leave, Beth had caught Daryl’s eye and smiled. He hadn’t smiled back at her though, just nodded and watched the door close behind her. There was no way that she was twenty one, at the very most she was nineteen. He had no business thinking about someone twenty years younger than him, that was Merle’s territory.

   But every night he looked up when the door opened, hoping to see her walking through it.

   The Moonshine Shack had been packed every single night since last Wednesday. It actually hadn’t been as awful as Daryl had thought it was going to be. Everyone had figured out pretty quickly that Daryl wasn’t the chatty type and left him alone. Tips were great too. _Keep your head down, keep up with orders_ , and the night was over before he knew it. Although it still baffled him that these kids seemed to party nonstop. He and Merle weren’t exactly homebodies, but they also didn’t have $200,000 of responsibility waiting for them the next morning.

   “Zombie Dust!” Daryl called out, putting the bottle of beer down onto the bar.

   “That’s me, brother.” Merle plopped onto a barstool in front of him. “Gotta test out all these fancy beers. College girls are all about that, apparently. Keep asking me what’s “on tap” like they know what the fuck that means.”

   “Aren’t you supposed to be at the door?”

   “I just let ‘em all in anyway, who gives a shit if I take a break?”

   Daryl motioned towards Merle’s beer. “Well your tactic ain’t working ‘cause you haven’t brought a single girl home this week.”

   Merle’s expression curled into a cocky smile and he winked at Daryl. “Nah, but I did get some serious head in the bathroom on Sunday. Very religious experience.”

   “Ah, come on, man!” Daryl groaned, “I piss in there!”

   “Seriously, the bathroom of a bar is sacred territory. I can’t believe that you would dare fornicate in there!”

   Both Daryl and Merle’s head shot up at the sound of a feminine voice behind them. Beth. She wore a big grin on her face and Daryl cringed knowing that she had heard Merle.

   Daryl opened his mouth to make up some excuse for his brother when a girl down at the other end of the bar called out for him. Clenching his jaw, he walked over to help her, trying to listen to Merle and Beth’s conversation from so far away. He was too far to hear anything, but Beth didn’t look offended by anything that Merle was saying. Or try to slap him. Daryl made the girl’s drink as quickly as possible but before he could walk back over someone else asked for a beer.

   Once Daryl finally started walking back to them, Merle stood up. Winking at him, his brother walked back outside without saying another word. It seemed innocent enough but Daryl didn’t like the look that Merle had given him, a look that Beth wore too. Like they knew something that he didn’t.

   “Sorry about my brother.” He said when he arrived in front of Beth.

   “He’s harmless enough, seems like mostly talk. I’m actually surprised that you have a brother, kinda figured that it was just you. “

   “Just me and Merle. How it’s always been.”

   “No parents?”

   Daryl could tell from the expression on Beth’s face that it was an innocent question, but he still shifted uncomfortably at the inquiry. This was the kind of topic that could quickly veer into emotional territory, and Daryl wasn’t about that bullshit.

   “Mom died when I was a kid, dad died a few years ago.” His curt tone let her know that he was done talking about himself. She picked up on it, thankfully.

   “Well, I need a drink,” Beth smoothly changed the subject. “My daddy would just about die to hear me say that. Alone, in a bar, on a weekday, no less. But I don’t even care right now.”

   “I’ll make you a screwdriver. Your dad will at least be happy about your healthy choice of orange juice.” Beth laughed at that, and even though Daryl’s brain was telling him to stop talking to this girl and go about his business, he asked her, “Your dad against drinking or something?”

   “Mhm, big time. He’s a recovering alcoholic, going on twenty five years now. That was long before I was born, but he’s always preaching about what a slipper slope it is.”

   _Shocking_ , he thought bitterly. Even her dad having a drinking problem had turned into a nice after school special. He pushed it away quickly though, it wasn’t Beth’s fault that she had a good father. Really, it was a good thing that there was one less kid who’d had to endure what he and Merle had gone through.

   As he made her drink, Daryl couldn’t help but examine Beth. She was staring off into the space behind him, looking exhausted. Her eyes had dark circles under them, the purplish-black color a sharp contrast to her pale skin. Chin held up by the palm of her hand, he could see chipped black nail polish that contrasted even more with her light features.

   “Tough week?” He finally asked, placing her drink in front of her.

   Beth groaned and covered her face with her hands. Spreading her fingers slightly to peek out at him, she said, “It has seriously been insane. I’ve never been given so much work in my life! I know this might sound like I’m bragging, but I did really well in high school. Which is why I always kind of ignored everyone who told me how tough college was going to be.” She took her hands off her face, waving them in front of herself in frustration. “My chemistry professor is this super social awkward guy, with a freaking mullet! A mullet, Daryl! He just rambles about things I don’t understand for an hour. Oh, and he assigned us a diorama as part of our midterm project! Who does diorama’s past third grade?!”

   Beth finally paused to take a breath, her face red from getting herself worked up.

   “Wow,” was all Daryl could think to say, mouth slightly agape. A girl who was about Beth’s age nodded along from the seat next to her, clearly in agreement.

   Beth looked sheepish at the realization that she had been ranting to him, and muttered an apology before taking a sip of her drink.  Just then, a loud group of guys walked into the bar and squeezed their way over to Daryl.

   “Hey man, can we get six Buds?” One of them asked.

   Daryl quickly served them their drinks before turning back to Beth. Her screwdriver was almost gone. “Alright,” he started, “first question is, what the hell is a diorama?”

   “You’ve seriously never had to do one? Count yourself lucky. It’s just a three dimensional model of something, they’re stupid.” Beth rolled her eyes at the thought and pounded back the rest of her drink.

   “Easy, girl. You want another?”

   Beth thought it over before sighing and shaking her head. “No, I shouldn’t. Maybe just a virgin?”

   Daryl’s mouth dropped open slightly. He knew what she had meant, but that hadn’t stopped his brain from jumping straight to the dirtiest possible conclusion. A conclusion that involved Beth on her back, moaning in a way that he could hear so vividly that he could feel all the blood rushing to his groin.

   “Oh my god, that came out wrong!” Beth yelped, interrupting Daryl’s thoughts. “I just meant like, a virgin screwdriver. Oh wow that sounded wrong too, I mean a drink. The non-alcoholic drink. Just orange juice.”

   He couldn’t think of anything to say, but even if he could, his tongue felt too heavy to move.

   “Wow, okay.” Beth continued, laying her head on the bar. “Maybe what I really need is a coffee.”

   “There’s a twenty four hour diner down the street.” Daryl finally managed to get out. “Coffee’s not half bad, and they’ve got the best french fries I’ve ever had.”

   Beth poked her head up cautiously. “Ever? Well damn, that’s where I’ll have to go then.”

   Taking a deep breath, she sat up the rest of the way. From her facial expression Daryl could tell that she was trying to work past the awkwardness of a few moments ago. He wanted to help her along, but he just didn’t know what to say.

   When she realized he wasn’t going to respond to her, she stood up. “Well, I can always just get some orange juice there.” Beth reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

   Daryl finally seemed to find his voice. “You’re good, it’s on me.” He said, motioning to the cash in Beth’s hand.  “Besides, now I know what a diorama is. That’s more than enough tip for me.”

   Beth simply stared at him as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. After a moment her face broke out into a small smile, like she knew something that he didn’t.

   Turning to leave, Beth suddenly paused and looked back at him. She seemed to be contemplating something before finally speaking.

   “Um, you know… When you’re off you should stop by. The diner, I mean. I’ll pay you back for the drink with some fries. Or coffee. Or pancakes. I don’t know, something…” Her face turning red again, Beth quickly rushed out before hearing his response.

   Daryl stood frozen, mouth slightly agape. The girl who had been listening in on Beth’s rant earlier shot him a knowing smirk as she watched Beth walk out of the bar.

   “What’re you looking at?” He practically growled, but the girl just snorted and walked away to one of the tables, shaking her head.

   As he continued to stare at the doorway where Beth had just been, another image of her popped into his head. This time on top of him, kissing his neck seductively. Pushing the image away, Daryl rubbed his eyes roughly. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, this Beth girl was going to be trouble. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter (and caught my very subtle Community reference)! Also had to throw a little Eugene mention in there because he's a cutie and deserves to be in this story in some way.


	6. Chapter 6

   Beth felt pathetic, which wasn’t an emotion that she had ever felt before. It wasn’t like she had been homecoming queen or anything in high school, but she’d been well liked. Jimmy had asked her out almost immediately after they’d started spending time together and Beth never second guessed his feelings towards her.

   And now? She had spent her entire first week of college daydreaming about a middle aged bartender. Then she had decided it would be a good idea to- what exactly? Hang out?

   Four hours later, she was still sitting in this crappy old diner. Legs stuck to the vinyl booth and her eyes drooping closed in front of her laptop as she waited for some guy who seemed to hate her most of the time. Beth didn’t even know what time The Moonshine Shack closed. It could have been hours ago, but Daryl had chosen to just go home. Trying to look on the bright side, she examined the sociology book that she had gotten ahead in.

   The professor of her Gender & Power class would definitely have something to say about her waiting here. _Ten more minutes_ , she decided, and then she would go home.

******

   The next thing she knew, someone was gently shaking her awake.

   “Hey, hey Beth. Come on, wake up.”

   “Stop it,” she moaned. “My alarm hasn’t gone off yet.” But as soon as the words left her mouth Beth became aware of an ache in her back and neck. She wasn’t in her bed, she was laying, with her head in her arms, on a hard surface.

   Daryl. Diner. She had been waiting for him…

   Beth shot up quickly and was mortified to see that there was drool on the table next to where her head had just been. Daryl stood over her, looking amused at her disheveled state.

   “Oh god…” She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she was dreaming.

   “Ya know, you shouldn’t leave your laptop out like that. This ain’t a good neighborhood.”

   “I know,” Beth let out a yawn. “It wasn’t exactly on purpose. What time is it?”

   Daryl shrugged. “A little past 3 AM maybe?”

   “What?!” she exclaimed. “I have a nine o’clock class tomorrow!” Standing up, she frantically starting shoving her things back into her backpack. _Fantastic_ , she thought, _first he had seen her drooling and now she probably looked like a maniac._

   “Hey, hey, relax. How far do you gotta walk to get home?”

   “Not far, just over half a mile.”

   Daryl nodded and surveyed the diner’s customers. There were plenty of students who had clearly had the same idea as her, but that wasn’t where Daryl’s eyes had gone to. He stared at a group of men in a corner booth who looked like they had seen the inside of a jail cell on more than one occasion.

   “Alright,” he finally spoke. “I’ll walk ya there.”

   Beth started to argue that it wasn’t necessary, but stopped herself. This was what she had wanted, so why not let him? The logical part of her brain told her that she should feel nervous. Really, she didn’t know Daryl at all, and anyone just glancing at him would probably associate him with the men in the corner. Still, Beth couldn’t help but trust him. He had kind eyes, and she was starting to figure out that maybe Daryl wasn’t quite as harsh as he made himself out to be.

   “Okay.” Beth finally agreed, placing her money down on the table and following Daryl outside.

   It was another warm night and Beth was glad that she had decided to wear a tank top that day. Not to mention that it was dark outside, because she was sure that the back of her thighs were red from the diner’s booth. Drooling all over herself was more than enough humiliation for one night, thank you very much.

   Daryl wore another sleeveless shirt under his vest tonight and Beth couldn’t help but stare at him. How had she not noticed immediately how handsome he was? Even his long hair, which she had thought looked silly at first, was growing on her. She didn’t like how it covered so much of his face though, her hand itched to reach out and push some of his bangs away.

   Daryl noticed her observing him. “What?” he asked self consciously.

   Beth quickly looked away, her cheeks turning red at being called out. “Nothing.” She tried to say nonchalantly, but it sounded strained even to her. An awkward silence fell over them.

   “Hot out tonight.” Daryl finally spoke, voice stilted.

   Still embarrassed, Beth simply nodded. After a few more beats of silence she dared a glance in his direction. Not able to help herself, she smiled shyly at him. To her surprise, he returned it.

   “So,” she finally spoke. “I didn’t realize that the bouncer was your brother before tonight. Merle, right? You two don’t seem related.”

   Daryl looked surprised. “Really? Think you’re the first person who ever thought that. Guess maybe it’s ‘cause you didn’t meet us together.”

   “Are the two of you close?”

   He nodded, “Now we are. Kinda gotta be close to someone if you’re living and working with them.”

   “My sister goes to GSU too, so she’s only a few minutes away. Not sure that I’d make it if she wasn’t here.”

   “Why?” Daryl looked genuinely confused and Beth felt stupid admitting to him that she would have been too homesick alone. For some reason, she told him anyway.

   “Well, I don’t know. It’s just that my family and I are all really close. When my brother, Shawn, went away to school in Florida I cried for days. As much as I’ve always wanted this,” Beth motioned to the campus buildings around them, “I was still scared that I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

   “How close are your parents?”

   Beth let out a laugh. “You’re gonna think I’m such a baby! They’re only like forty five minutes away from here, right off of 85.”

   Surprisingly, Daryl didn’t look like he was going to laugh at her at all. In fact he seemed to be more serious than he usually was. “Nah, you’re lucky to have a family that you’re close to. Ain’t exactly something to be ashamed of.”

   She could tell from the way that he looked away as he spoke that his words brought on some sort of memories for Daryl. As much as Beth wanted to ask about his family, she knew it would be a mistake. Beth had always prided herself on knowing when not to say anything and this seemed like one of those times. Still, she wasn’t about to let him off that easily.

   Lengthening her strides so that she walked ahead of him, Beth abruptly stopped and turned to face him. Daryl looked surprised at their sudden proximity and took a defensive step back, but Beth didn’t mind.

   “Thanks.” She let the word hang in the air, hoping the weight of it wouldn’t be lost on him. She had told him her fears and he hadn’t judged her, even though she was sure that he had worried about much bigger things in his life.

   Daryl seemed frozen in place, eyes locked on hers with his face carefully blank. “Ain’t nothin’,” He finally said, breaking the silence but not her gaze.

   Beth stepped closer. “Maybe, but I’ve been keeping that one in for months. I guess it’s just easier to tell a stranger.”

   He had sucked in his breath when she had stepped towards him, but he tried to play it off now by joking, “Kind of part of my job description, right? People are always spilling their secrets to bartenders. Their cash too.”

   She laughed, stepping back to his side and beginning to walk again. “Well you’re good at it. Best screwdriver I’ve ever had, _and_ you’ve been teaching newbies like me proper drinking terminology!”

   “All you kids sound like idiots when you order, I’m just doing my part.”

   “This is me,” Beth slowed as they reached the entrance of Marshall Hall. Unlike the first few days of school, when the place never seemed to stop buzzing, it was just the two of them out at this hour.

   Daryl turned so that they faced each other again, leaving more room between them than she had though. Beth held back a smile as he awkwardly rubbed his neck, probably trying to think of something to say.

   Letting out a puff of air, she decided to save him the trouble. “I can’t believe I’m only gonna get four hours of sleep. I mean, I knew sleep deprivation was a part of college but I figured I’d have at least a few weeks before the workload started getting heavy.”

   “Well that’s just ‘cause some sorry ass bartender made ya wait around until 3 AM to buy him a cup of coffee. Sorry about that, by the way.”

   Beth laughed. “And I didn’t even buy you one. It’s alright, I like talking to you. You’re funny.”

   Daryl looked at her like she was insane. “I think you’re the first person to ever call me funny.” He paused, “Or said they liked talking to me.”

   “I guess I just know something that they don’t.”

   From the way that he was looking at her, she could tell that his words were affecting him. Beth would be lying if she said that she didn’t like it. Almost everything she said or did seemed to make an impact. Was that why she felt drawn to him though? Because she liked that she made him nervous, liked the rush that came with it?

   No.

   As quickly as the thought flickered through her brain it was gone. Beth had meant what she had said to him. She liked talking to Daryl, felt like she could open up to him, and he really did make her laugh. Plus, Beth was hardly the vixen type, that was Maggie’s M.O. She highly doubted that she had it in her to string along some guy for fun.

   Beth jumped when Daryl cleared his throat. Clearly she had been off in her own little world. “Sorry,” she muttered sheepishly.

   “’S fine. Get to sleep, you gotta be semi well rested.”

   “If only. Alright, well… Good night, Daryl.” She stood there waiting for a few beats, unsure of what exactly she expected out of him. When he didn’t do or say anything Beth simply turned to walk inside.

   “Wait!” He called out after she had taken a few steps.

   “Yeah?” Beth turned back to him, a triumphant smile on her face.

   Daryl just stood there though, hands deep in his pockets. He looked like he wanted to speak but couldn’t quite get the words out.

   Beth’s smile grew even wider. To put him out of his misery, she finally spoke.

   “I’ll probably do some more studying tomorrow. At the diner. Before the bar opens. Maybe I’ll see you there if you decide to get a pick me up before work?”

   He nodded vigorously, catching onto what she was saying. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Night, Beth.”

   “Night, Daryl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeeellll there was no kiss! But I promise we'll get there! What kind of M fic would this be if there was no kissing? (Answer: A super kinky one)
> 
> Let me know what you guys think, I hope you all enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

   “Holy. Shit.” Rosita said for the tenth time since Beth had begun telling her about the previous night. The two girls sat Indian style on Rosita’s bed, Beth biting her nails nervously.

“Holy shit!” Rosita repeated.

   “Stop saying that!” Beth exclaimed. “Tell me what you think!”

   “What I think is ‘holy shit!’” Beth flopped back onto Rosita’s pillows with a groan. “I just thought you didn’t like him!” Rosita defended. “I mean, he’s kind of a jerk.”

   Beth sighed. “At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I think he’s just misunderstood.”

   Rosita burst out laughing, “I mean, it’s not unheard of for a guy to _actually_ be misunderstood and not just an excuse that girls use when a guy treats her like shit.”

   “That’s the thing though, he doesn’t treat me like shit! Not since that first night. Actually, I think I make him kind of nervous.”

   “But he’s like forty,” Rosita looked unconvinced. “No offense, how exactly is an eighteen year old girl going to make him nervous?”

   Beth shrugged, not having a definitive answer for her. “Maybe he’s just never had a girl who’s expressed real interest in him before. Plus I don’t exactly know what I’m doing! What if I’m projecting my nerves onto him and the whole thing is just in my head?”

   The night before, in the dark and heat, Beth had felt so sure of herself. Now in the harsh light of day she wasn’t feeling quite so confident. Daryl _was_ a lot older than her so it was more than likely that he just found her obnoxious. Last night she had been the one to initiate both meetings at the diner. But then why had Daryl agreed to go?

   “Gah!” she groaned, “This whole thing is making my head hurt.”

   Rosita laid down next to her. “Okay, not to downplay your emotional crisis or anything but can you get the scoop on that Abe guy for me? Daryl’s gotta know something useful about him.”

   “Abe? Really? With the mustache?”

   “Excuse me!” Rosita scoffed. “Daryl’s hair is just as ridiculous as Abe’s mustache!”

   “I like his hair!” Beth defended.

   “Well I like Abe’s mustache. I bet it tickles when he’s… you know.” Rosita motioned to her vagina with a smirk.

   Beth gagged, “I did not need to hear that!”

   “Plus, Abe’s a _real_ man, not some dumb freshman boy. I bet he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

   Beth felt embarrassed about just how embarrassed this conversation was making her. It wasn’t like she had never done anything sexual. Her and Jimmy had done… Hand stuff. Christ, she couldn’t even say it! There was no way that Daryl would be interested in her once he knew what a baby she was. Older guys liked girls her age, but only ones like Rosita who knew what they were doing.

   Shoving her head underneath Rosita’s pillow, Beth smashed her face into the mattress to try and distract herself. “I need to take a nap,” she finally said, her voice muffled through the pillows. “Bars don’t open until later, right? I’ve probably got another few hours before Daryl shows up at the café.

   “I’m going to meet Hayley for lunch. Just stay in my bed, hon. I’m gonna set an alarm on your phone.” Rosita patted Beth’s back and she felt the bed shift as Rosita stood up.

   Beth nodded, feeling drained by the whole situation. Maybe she just shouldn’t even go…

   Not even waiting until Rosita left the room, Beth curled up into her blankets and let herself drift off.

 

* * *

 

   Daryl had been sitting alone, starting at his half empty cup of lukewarm coffee for almost an hour. Beth wasn’t coming. He shouldn’t have been disappointed, this was exactly what he had known was going to happen. Exactly what he wanted to happen. He didn’t know much about Beth, but what he did know made it clear to Daryl that she was too good for him.

   Beth was young and hopeful, she had her entire life ahead of her. The scars on Daryl’s back tingled at the thought. She was still whole and he had never been. Beth not meeting him here today had been the right choice. Really, he didn’t even know what they had expected to happen.

   Chugging down the last of his coffee, Daryl waved down his waitress. The woman rushed over and quietly cleared his mug from the table before placing his check down. Something about her was familiar but he didn’t know what it was, and he didn’t care.

   “Wait.” He stopped her as she began to walk away. “I got the money for ya now.”

   She stopped and Daryl was aware of her studying him as he searched around in his pocket for cash.

   “You work at The Moonshine Shack, right?”

   Daryl examined her more closely, still not remembering her. Before last week female visitors had been few and far between at The Moonshine Shack. If she had been a customer then Daryl would have remembered her.

   When he didn’t respond to her question the waitress finally explained herself, “My husband is a regular there. I’ve had to pick him up a few times.”

   “Thought you looked familiar. Karen, right?”

   “Carol.” She corrected him.

   He remembered her now, should’ve recognized her the second he had come in here. Her husband, Ed, was one of The Moonshine Shack’s most frequent patrons. The guy came off as nice enough, but he had a mean temper. Ed had been kicked out of the bar on more than one occasion since the Dixon brothers had started there. Daryl noticed a carefully covered bruise on Carol’s cheek and understood that Ed’s temper wasn’t confined to dive bars.

   “Keep the change,” he remarked as he handed her a twenty-dollar bill. Carol’s eyes widened in surprise until she saw Daryl’s knowing expression.

   “Thanks.” She muttered under her breath and hurried back into the kitchen.

   Daryl left clenching his fists, imagining Ed laying his hands on his wife. For the second time today, he became hyperaware of the scars that marred his back.

   He didn’t need to be at the bar for another hour but wandering aimlessly around Atlanta didn’t sound appealing, so he decided to head in early. There was probably inventory to take stock of or cleaning activities that Abe had slacked on. Something to get his mind off of Beth and that Carol woman.

   As he got closer to the bar, Daryl found himself wishing that it would be a busy night. Glaring at college kids was a surefire way to keep his mind occupied. Considering that the bar had been packed every single night since school had started up, it was a pretty likely scenario. And if not, there was always Ed to take out his aggression on. Everything would be fine.

 ******

   It hadn’t been fine though, the night had been fucking miserable. Apparently the college kids had wised up and realized that partying ever single night wasn’t gonna fly. Ed hadn’t shown up either, so Daryl had had no distractions. Abe and Merle hadn’t exactly been helpful either, they had picked up on his bad mood and immediately pounced. As soon as the bar closed Daryl told them to get the hell out, that he would clean up himself.

   The one perk about the night being slow was that it didn’t take long to close up. It was barely 2:30 when Daryl stepped outside, and froze.

   Beth was there, pacing back and forth. She was clearly in her own head because she hadn’t even heard him walk out. Plus, she was muttering rapidly to herself. That, combined with her disheveled appearance, probably would have made people passing her on the street assume that she was insane.

   “What’re you doing here?” he asked, unsure that he wanted to hear her answer.

   She jumped at the sound of Daryl’s voice, rushing over to him once she realized who it was.

   “Oh my god, I am so so sorry! Really! I fell asleep! I set an alarm and everything but I must have slept through it.”

   “Oh.”

   “I just didn’t want you to think I was blowing you off. When I woke up I thought about coming here right away, but you were at work and I didn’t want to bother you and… I don’t know.” Beth let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m just sorry.”

   Daryl worked to keep his face neutral as he considered her words. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, Beth really didn’t seem like one for lying. Not to mention her wrinkled sweatshirt and ponytail that had more flyaway hairs than not.

   “You’re wearing two different shoes.” He pointed out.

   Beth looked down at her feet, she was wearing one flip flop and one of those slipper shoes that women liked so much. “Oh god,” she moaned, smacking her forehead. “Why do you even like me?”

   “Who said I do?”

   Beth’s gaze shot up, a mortified look on her face, but she visibly relaxed when she saw that he was smirking at her.

   “Guess I was mistaken.” She responded with a smile that mirrored his own. Holding his gaze, Beth bit her lip and tugged at her ponytail nervously. “So…”

   Daryl tried to answer her right away, but her mouth held his gaze. Bright pink lips, except for a small bit of white where she bit down. For a split second Daryl considered leaning down to kiss her, taste her. As quickly as the thought passed through his brain he shot it down.  Beth liked him, for some strange reason, but still Daryl couldn’t bring himself to do something as simple as close the distance between the two of them.

_Coward._

   “Wanna have a drink?” He finally blurted out, motioning to the dark bar where he’d just come from.

   Beth looked past him at the empty building. “Is that even allowed?”

   Daryl simply shrugged, “I got the keys and Abe’ll probably never find out anyway.”

   Beth broke out into a small smile. “Sure,” she agreed. “Gotta live on the edge.”

   Without another word, Daryl unlocked The Moonshine Shack and held the door as Beth walked through. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he tried to imagine how this whole thing was going to end.

   At that moment Beth turned back towards him, her smile so wide that he stopped caring how it would end.

   Hoisting herself up on the bar, she finally spoke. “So, are you gonna make me a drink or what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm really sorry this took flipping forever to put up! This week hasn't even been that busy, so I've got no excuse. How did everyone like last Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead? I actually enjoyed it! I haven't read the comics so I was shocked when Eugene admitted he wasn't a scientist (even though I sort of suspected).
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be up a lot faster than this one. Definitely by Sunday afternoon (scout's honor!). Oh, and thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments you've all been leaving. You guys are the absolute best!


	8. Chapter 8

   Watching Daryl walk behind the bar to find a drink, Beth took the opportunity to fix herself up. Pulling down at her sweatshirt to try and get the wrinkles out, she gave up and settled for just fixing up her ponytail. For god’s sake, she was wearing two different shoes! Daryl didn’t seem to think that she was too much of an idiot though, so that was good.

   “Whadya want?”

   Beth considered the bottles in front of her. “Maybe just a beer? I’ve never had one before.”

   “Alright,” he bent down to shuffle through the fridge.  “We’ll start with something light then.”

   “No way!” Beth exclaimed. “Go big or go home, right?”

   Daryl laughed and stood up with two matching bottles in his hand.

   “Zombie Dust it is then.”

   Opening the beers, he slid one in front of her and moved around to the front of the bar. She had hoped that Daryl would hop up onto the bar with her, but instead he sat on one of the bar stools.

   Trying to hide her disappointment, Beth surveyed the bottle seriously. “It’s not exactly a zombie,” she pointed to the design on the front of the bottle. “More a lizard king, really.”

   Daryl took a swig of his beer. “ Lizard King ain’t as cool of a name as Zombie Dust though.”

   “Well, here goes nothing.” She shrugged, taking a small sip. It was smooth at first, enough so that Beth thought she might actually enjoy it. Then the after taste hit, so bitter that Beth stuck out her tongue in disgust. “People like that stuff?” She exclaimed.

   “People like that stuff enough to drink ten a night. And that ain’t even the cheap stuff.”

   Beth shook her head in disgust. “I could not imagine paying for that! Mixed drinks are delicious and at least shots are over in a second.”

   Daryl laughed at that, but then slowly narrowed his eyes at her, examining her closely. “How old are you really?”

   She considered lying but he was going to find out eventually. At least, he was if they continued to find reasons to see each other. Plus, Daryl clearly already knew that she wasn’t twenty-one. Nothing about being a twenty-one year old freshman even made sense. She probably should have thought that one over before using a fake ID.

   “Eighteen,” Beth finally replied.

   Daryl let out a long breath, looking away from her quickly. She could practically see the wheels in his brain turning and knew that whatever conclusion he came to wasn’t going to be good for this _thing_ that they had going on.

   “Almost nineteen!” She defended, hearing the desperation in her tone, as Daryl pushed himself off his chair.

   “That don’t make it any better,” the panic in his tone matched hers. He still refused to look at her, taking a step back.

   “Well, how old are you?”

   At that his head whipped up, now he stared straight at her, defensive and angry. “I’m thirty seven years old! Twice your age! I’m not about to be that guy.”

   “What guy?” Beth kept her voice even, mimicking the tone she so often used with spooked animals back at the farm.

   It didn’t seem to help.

   “The perv who preys on young girls that are two fucking decades younger than him! That’s Merle’s game, not mine.”

   Beth stared at him for a moment, taking him in, before sighing. “Sit down, Daryl.” When he didn’t move she forced her voice into an authoritative tone. “Sit.”

   She had to work hard to fight back the laugh that bubbled up in her throat at his expression. Daryl’s eye roll probably outshone any pissy teenager out there. As he sat back down on the bar stool he glared at her like she was his mother. And he was seriously fretting that _she_ was too young?

  “Daryl,” she spoke quietly, a small smile on her face. He glanced up at her for a moment before looking away again and beginning to bite his fingernails.  It made him look like he had regressed into a small child. _Abused,_ the word ran through her head quietly.

   Beth spoke his name again but Daryl continued to stare at the ground. Fine, let him.

   “Listen, I meant what I said last night, I like talking to you. And even though you’re kind of hard to read I’m pretty sure that you like talking to me too. I’m not bothered by the age difference, and it’s not like I’m asking you to marry me. It’s just… I’ve never sat at a diner all night just because I was hoping that some guy might walk in. But I did for you so I think it has to mean _something._ I just want to see how this plays out.”

   Finally, he turned his gaze back to her. “That simple, huh?” He asked, his thumb still between his teeth.

   Beth smiled at that and scooted forward. From up on top of the bar she was actually at eye’s length with Daryl, maybe even a little taller than him. So close to him, the pale blue of his eyes looked impossibly vivid.

   Taking a deep breath, Beth tried to calm her beating heart as she gently pulled Daryl’s hand away from his face. His hand was limp in hers and she slowly let it drop to his side before inching closer to him. Her eyes dropped to his mouth as she cupped his face in her hands and gently brought her lips to his.

   He didn’t move, not at first. His chapped lips just pressed firmly against her own. But then his mouth moved, softly, and Beth’s breath hitched.

   It was hardly a “first kiss in the rain with fireworks everywhere” type of kiss. Daryl didn’t even move his hands from his side. Instead, kissing Daryl felt like something that she had done a million times over. It felt comfortable, it felt right, it felt good.

   Too soon he pulled away from her. Beth’s hands still cupped his face though, feeling like opening her eyes was an impossibility. She felt Daryl gently smooth a strand of her back from her face.

   After a moment, Beth let her hands drop and forced herself to open her eyes. The way Daryl was looking at her, eyes bright and shocked, made her blush.

   With a nervous laugh she smoothed back the rest of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail as she’d leaned toward Daryl.

   “You okay?” Daryl asked nervously.

   All Beth could seem to do was grin stupidly at him, Daryl probably thought that she was crazy. He smiled back at her though so maybe he wasn’t too put off by it.

   “What now?” she finally managed to get out. _More kissing,_ she thought hopefully.

   Instead, Daryl stood up again. “Now,” he motioned at the forgotten beer, “We get you a drink that you’ll actually like.”

   Beth laughed, deciding to let him get away with his obvious avoidance. She swiveled around on the bar so that she could see all of the different types of liquor. Zeroing in on the bottles of tequila, she grabbed the closest one and handed it to Daryl as he moved behind the bar again.

   “This! I liked the tequila the other night. Do you know how to make margaritas?”

    Nodding, Daryl grabbed the bottle from her and went to work pouring ingredients into the bars ancient looking blender. “These were my Ma’s favorite. Been making these since I was eight years old.”

   “You made your mom drinks when you were a kid?”

   Daryl shrugged, turning on the blender so that he didn’t have to respond to her. He didn’t even look that bothered by it. Doing those kinds of things had probably just been an ordinary part of his childhood. Without overthinking it, Beth leaned forward to place her hand over Daryl’s.

   He tensed up as soon as she touched him, but instead of pulling away like she had suspected he might, Daryl turned his hand up toward hers. Beth slowly ran her fingers along his palm, mapping out the callouses that covered it. She wondered what he had done before this. Bartending wasn’t exactly the kind of job that gave someone hands as rough as his were. Continuing to trace her way up, she squeezed his fingers with her own, hoping he took it as the comfort and understanding that it was. To Beth’s surprise, he actually returned the pressure before quickly dropping his hand.

   “Alright,” Daryl said as he turned off the blender. “I hope you’re ready for this because this is gonna be the best damn margarita you ever had. You ain’t ever gonna be able to enjoy someone else’s after this.”

   Beth laughed, “I mean you want your first time to be good, right?”

   They both paused at her wording, and Beth wanted to curl up into a ball and die for the second time in as many days.

   After a moment Daryl burst out laughing and Beth’s shoulders sagged with relief.

   “You’re doing this on purpose,” he accused her teasingly as he handed her a cup. “Tryin’a give an old man a heart attack.”

    She raised her eyebrows in what she hoped was a flirty way. “Maybe I’m the one preying on you.”

   “I think you probably are.” Daryl smiled. Beth felt her face and neck burn as she took a sip of the margarita.

    “This is delicious!” She took a bigger sip, steering the conversation towards any other topic but that one.

   As much as Beth wanted to be some sexy vixen type that was seducing Daryl, she just wasn’t. She was afraid that if they focused on it for too long then he would see what a phony she was. Even if he didn’t seem to be all that experienced himself he had to be ahead of her and her awkward fumbling’s with Jimmy in the backseat of her car.

   “Practice makes perfect.” He said simply.

   “Really perfect.” Before taking another drink, she paused, something suddenly occurring to her. “Is it okay that I’m drinking this? It’s not making you uncomfortable or anything, is it?” Daryl didn’t look like he was following her. “You know, because of your mom…”

   Daryl flinched and Beth’s heart sped up, knowing that she’d made a mistake. “Why the hell would I give a shit about what you’re drinking? It’s not like making my mom a god damn drink was torture.”

   “You’re right, I’m sorry.” Beth hurried to correct the situation. “I, uh, well you know my dad like to drink a lot. I told you that, remember? For a long time I told myself that I would never drink because I was so afraid of becoming an alcoholic like him. Until one day I realized that I couldn’t base my life on the fear of my Daddy’s mistakes.” She paused, “Not that your mom was like my dad. That’s not what I’m saying.”

   Daryl had already relaxed by the time she finished rambling, or at least pushing whatever anger he’d had down somewhere deep. It was pretty obvious to Beth that whatever had happened in his childhood wasn’t as unimportant to him as he pretended. Now wasn’t the time to bring those things up to him though, they barely knew each other. He had no reason to trust her that much.

   “You gonna finish your beer?” She nodded towards his beer that had gone untouched on the counter.

   “Not much of a drinker, only when I’m with Merle.”

   “How long have you two worked here?”

   He shrugged, “Not too long, about three months now. Abe knew Merle from their time in the army.”

   Beth didn’t even bother to hide her shock. “Merle in the army?! I mean don’t get me wrong, he looks pretty darn tough, but I cannot picture that.”

   “Neither could the government apparently, he never even made it out of boot camp.” Daryl snorted, shaking his head. “He punched a sergeant, so they kicked him out. Sent him to prison for it, actually. In case you were thinking about it, assaulting an officer is a shitty idea.”

    She pretended to take his words to heart. “Good advice, I’ll keep that in mind if I’m ever feeling particularly aggressive around a hulking army man.” Beth took a sip of her drink before she plucked up the courage to ask. “So what were you guys doing before this?”

   She’d figured that Daryl would simply avoid her question the way he usually did. Surprisingly, he answered her with brutal honesty.

   “We were just wandering around, Merle and I. Staying in motels and picking up odd jobs. Mostly illegal.” Daryl’s expression made it obvious that he was challenging her. “Still wanna see how this all plays out?”

   Beth refused to buy into his bravado. Holding his gaze, she answered, “Absolutely.”

   He was really going to have to figure out that scaring her off wasn’t going to work.

   “So, what kind of illegal stuff?” Beth challenged right back, taking another drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I was going to wait to post this until tomorrow, but after tonight's TTD I needed a little bit of positive Bethyl in my life. So here you go!
> 
> I hope everyone liked their first kiss! Eeek, that was nerve wracking to write. Let me know what you guys thought in the comments! You've all been so amazing and I love hearing from everyone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded this a day later than I wanted to but I've just been exhausted all week. It took me over an hour to type this all out because I kept spacing out. Whoops! Oh well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'll have the next one up by Sunday.

* * *

  

It was 7 AM by the time Daryl dropped Beth back at her dorm. Just like the previous night he stood in front of her awkwardly, unsure of what to do. The obvious thing would be to lean down and kiss her, but something was keeping him frozen.

   It wasn’t that he hadn’t enjoyed their kiss back at the bar, the problem was that he enjoyed it too much. It had been _years_ since Daryl had kissed anyone and even then it hadn’t come close to this. The whole thing had barely lasted ten seconds, but Daryl still felt her lips on his hours later.

   Any semblance of intimacy that he had shared before his kiss with Beth had been blurry with the hours of drinking that led up to it.  Even calling it intimacy was a stretch.

   Beth was different, and it wasn’t just because he had been sober. All the women that Daryl had been around in his life had been hard. Beth wasn’t. But as much as Daryl was afraid of ruining her in some way, he couldn’t walk away. Even if he really wanted to, she probably wouldn’t let him. Maybe she was crazy? The girl hadn’t even blinked an eye when he had brought up his past.

   In fact, Beth had spent an hour grilling him on the things he’d done. Her response? “Hm. Okay then.” After which she’d proceeded to nonchalantly change the subject.

   Daryl couldn’t figure it out. And now here she was, standing in front of him, giving him a look that made it clear what she expected of him.

   “Sorry I kept you out so late- well, early.” He heard himself say to her. _Idiot_ , he thought, _just kiss her_.

   She smiled, “It’s okay you already messed up my sleep schedule the night before.”

   “Yeah, I’m sorry about that too.”

   Beth punched his arm playfully. “I’m teasing you, Daryl!” She paused in thought, “You know, I just realized that I don’t even know your last name. I’ve kissed you, I know about the time you almost got shot in the butt by an eighty year old woman. But not your last name.”

   Daryl laughed and resisted making a joke about her being easy. He would be kidding, obviously, but he was pretty sure that women didn’t take kindly to that kind of humor. Merle had a scar behind his right ear to prove it.

   “Dixon.”

   “Daryl Dixon.” Beth spoke his name, taking her time over each syllable. “I like it, nice alliteration.”

   Whatever that meant.

   “Mine is Greene. Beth Greene.”

   “Well Beth Greene, it’s nice to know you.” Daryl stuck his hand out to her, the same way she had done once before in the dusty bar hallway.

   Beth’s mouth turned up into a small smile as she took his hand and shook it. Unlike last time he didn’t try to pull away. He just let their hands linger, clasped together tightly. Daryl wondered what it would feel like to interlace his fingers with her own. Before he could work up the courage to, Beth took a step toward him.

   “You should ask me out on a date.” She remarked, matter of factly.

   Daryl let out a short laugh. “Oh yeah?”

   Beth nodded. “For Chinese.”

   “You’re pretty sure of yourself, ain’t ya?”

   To his surprise, she shrugged and admitted with more honesty than Daryl had ever managed. “Not at all, but if I pretend long enough then it has to rub off. Don’t you think?”

   He didn’t know what to say, so Daryl did the only thing he could think to. Closing the distance left between them, he pushed a strand of her hair away from her lips and brought his mouth down to meet hers.

   Beth responded more quickly than he had, her lips moving against his own almost immediately. She dropped his hand to grasp onto the front of his shirt, twisting it between her fingers. Daryl slid his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her even closer to him. He was aware of his pulse in his ears, pounding erratically.

   Too quickly she pulled away, cheeks bright and her gaze looking past him.

   “There are people watching.” Beth pointed, and Daryl turned to see two students on their way to class avert their gazes.

   “Just imagine what they were thinking.” Daryl teased.

   “Oh, shush,” Beth nudged his chest, “Now that we’ve kissed twice you _really_ need to take me on a date though. Don’t want you thinking that I’m easy.”

   Daryl looked her up and down. “Something tells me you’re not gonna be that.”

   Beth raised her eyebrows at him and this time it was Daryl’s turn to go red.

   “I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “I didn’t mean it like that, that’s not what I’m after here. Not that I’m after anything!” Giving up, he quickly changed the subject. “So, Chinese then?”

   She smiled and nodded. “How about tomorrow night? Are you working?”

  “No,” Daryl lied. He would just tell Abe to suck it up and cover for him. Working seven days a week without overtime was illegal anyway, he deserved a night off. “Tomorrow night is good.”

   “Good!” Her eyes beamed up at him and she bounced up and down on her heels. “My family went to this amazing place for my brother’s birthday last year that’s only a ten minute walk from here.”

   “Let’s go there then. I’ll pick you up at six, alright?”

   “Perfect!” She nodded vigorously.

   Unsure of what to do next, Daryl shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets. He’d never even been on a date before, let alone asked someone out. Did you kiss goodbye? He was pretty sure you weren’t even supposed to kiss until after the second date.

   So much for that.

   Beth let out a bubble of laughter, clearly as nervous as Daryl was. Standing on her toes, she leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Her hands had landed on his shoulders to give her balance and he felt her squeeze lightly before she stepped away.

   “See you tomorrow, Daryl Dixon.” Beth winked before turning to go inside.

   Daryl let out a deep breath that he hadn’t even realized he was holding in. As he started to walk home he felt himself begin to panic. What the fuck did you even wear on a date? Not a suit, he knew that much.

   He needed to go home and sleep, but his feet took him in the opposite direction of his and Merle’s apartment. There was a Kohl’s not too far away. They sold nice things, didn’t they? Plus, stores like that always had mannequins that he could just copy an outfit from.

   A tired looking employee was unlocking the doors just as he walked up. The man surveyed Daryl’s appearance and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Normally it would have made him livid to be judged right off the bat like that, but right now he was too exhausted to give a shit.

   Heading toward the men’s section, Daryl felt the man’s eyes on his back. He ignored it and went straight to the first mannequin he saw. It had on the ugliest fucking tracksuit that Daryl had ever seen.

   _This was a great idea._

   “That reminds me of my father.” A female voice spoke behind him, causing Daryl to jump.

   Turning around, he was surprised to see the waitress from the diner, Carol, standing in front of him. She still wore her uniform and dark bags under her eyes showed her exhaustion.

   “What’re you doing here?” Daryl asked.

   She looked amused at his expression. “I’m guessing the same thing as you.”

   “You just got off now?”

   Carol nodded. “About an hour ago. I worked a double so Ed told me I could go buy myself a new shirt.”

   “What a guy.” Daryl snorted.

   Choosing to ignore him, she asked, “Why are you here? The Moonshine Shack closed hours ago, didn’t it? I wouldn’t have taken you for an early riser.”

   Daryl scratched the back of his neck roughly. “I needed a new outfit.:

   “For tonight?”

   “Tomorrow night.”

   She examined him closely before her lips curled up into a knowing smile. “The girl who stood you up at the diner?”

   “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He scoffed.  But he could tell from her continued grinning that she didn’t buy it. With a groan, he snapped, “She didn’t stand me up, and yes it’s for her. How do you even know about that?”

   “She came running into the diner about an hour after you left. Poor thing looked panicked before rushing back out. I just assumed that she was looking for you since you had obviously been waiting for someone earlier.” Carol laughed, “She’s kind of young for you, don’t you think?”

   Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t know nothin’ about it.”

   “Okay, okay.” Carol held up her hands in a truce. She poked her head around his shoulder to examine the mannequin. “Word of advice: I wouldn’t recommend wearing that.”

   “No shit,” he rolled his eyes and started working his way through the racks of clothing. Carol followed.

   “Want some help?”

   “No. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” He accused, turning back towards her.

   Carol held up a bulky green sweater. “I got my stuff already. Plus, you’re clearly out of your element here. I can help!”

   Daryl snorted, “I’ve seen the way Ed dresses. The guy’s even worse than me.”

   “Barely, and they way Ed dresses has got nothing to do with me. I’m telling you, I can help. My coworkers are always bringing in fashion magazines to read on breaks.”

   He wanted to tell her to go away, that he didn’t want her advice. This was hour twenty of no sleep and the last thing he wanted to do was chat with some lady he barely knew. Still, he really _was_ in over his head. 

   “Fine.” Daryl grumbled and turned back to the clothes. He could hear Carol cracking up behind him but chose to ignore it.

   They wandered in silence for a few minutes before splitting up. Daryl stood in front of the outerwear section, fingering a scratchy poncho that didn’t look like it could keep anyone warm. Still, he kind of liked it even though the red in it wouldn’t do him any favors while hunting. Maybe he’d wear it on his date with Beth tomorrow, see if that would scare her off. Daryl was just grabbing it’s hanger when Carol cleared her throat behind him.

   Turning, he saw that she was holding up an outfit for him to see. Daryl looked suspiciously at the denim button down and black jeans that Carol had picked out.

   “Trust me,” she assured him. “This is it.”


	10. Chapter 10

   Beth was fairly certain that she was floating as she walked into her building. Now that her and Daryl had an actual date planned she was starting to let herself get genuinely excited. Thinking back to the kiss they had just shared outside, a shiver ran up Beth’s spine. If they had been alone out there she could have done that for hours.

   “So that’s why you were such a bitch the other night.” A voice remarked coldly.

   Beth turned to see Ben leaning against the wall of the foyer, smirking. She laughed, but there was no humor behind it. “No, it wasn’t.”

   Ben pushed himself off the wall and took a step towards her. Beth took an involuntary step back, crossing her arms in defiance.

   “He’s a little old for you. What is he, like fifty?”

   “Thirty-seven!” Beth defended quickly, cringing as she did so. She shouldn’t even be engaging him at all. Trying to step around him into the common area, he blocked her way.

   “Well that’s not _too_ old, I’m sure his dick’s still in good shape.”

   Beth’s cheeks flushed in anger. “Get out of my way,” she demanded through gritted teeth.

   Ben obliged, his smirk growing even wider. Beth had never been so disappointed that she had no real idea how to throw a punch.  He didn’t even give her a chance to try though, laughing as he walked out the door that she had just come through.

   “If you change your mind you know where to find me!” He called out as the door swung shut behind him.

   Beth became aware of a sharp pain at her side and looked down to see that she had been digging her fingernails into her palms. Taking a deep breath, she worked to relax herself. Ben was obviously a creep and not worth any energy spent hating him. Roughly rubbing her eyes, she began to make her way to her room. Thankfully she didn’t have any classes today because her bed was calling out to her.

   Except there was a hair tie on her and Rosita’s door, signaling for her not to come in. Beth let out a long puff of air, unsure of what her next move should be. In her short time here she had seen plenty of people sleeping on the couches in the common room. But with Ben around Beth wasn’t willing to take that risk.

   Realizing that she hadn’t talked to Maggie all week, Beth decided that her sister’s place was the best option. The drive there was short but brutal, she struggled to keep her eyes open the entire way.

   Letting herself into Maggie’s apartment, Beth silently opened her sister’s bedroom door. Maggie was sprawled out on her stomach, mouth open in mid snore. Beth smiled at how ridiculous it looked, half tempted to take a picture. She decided against it though, slipping off her two different shoes and crawling under the covers.

   She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

 

* * *

 

   The smell of coffee woke Beth a few hours later. With a groan she sat up and looked over at the clock on Maggie’s nightstand. 10:42, great. _Well_ , Beth thought as she stood up, _three hours of sleep is better than none_.

   “Hey there, Sleeping Beauty,” Maggie greeted her as she walked out of the bedroom. She and Tara sat at their kitchen’s island, coffee mugs in their hands.

   Beth opened her mouth to speak but a yawn came out instead.

   “Long night?” Tara laughed.

   “How did you end up with two different shoes?” Maggie added.

   “I was up studying.” Beth tried to lie, but it was clear that Maggie and Tara didn’t buy it.

   “I can smell the alcohol on you.” Her sister pointed out.

   “How?!” Beth exclaimed, “All I had was half of a margarita and that was hours ago!”

   Tara snorted. “It doesn’t matter. One sip of alcohol and you reek all night. Word of advice: _always_ shower when you go to class after a night of drinking. You make think your teachers won’t know, but they always do. _Always_.”

   Beth rolled her eyes good-naturedly.  “I’ll keep that in mind,” she took that moment to walk over and pour herself a mug of coffee, hoping they would let her change the subject. “So,” she asked casually, “What are you two up to today?”

   “So,” Maggie countered, “Why did I wake up with you in my bed this morning?”

   Averting eye contact, Beth mumbled a response.

   “What was that?” Tara pushed. Both girls had amused looks on their face, and Beth knew there was no way she could get out of explaining herself.

   “Rosita had a hair tie on the doorknob so I didn’t want to risk going into our room.”

   “And you discovered this when?”

   Beth’s face was burning up at this point, but she didn’t know how to stop it. “Seven this morning.” She finally admitted.

   Maggie and Tara exchanged an amused glance. “Guess this Daryl guy turned out not to be so bad after all.”

   “I never said-!” She tried to cover, but their knowing grins stopped her. “Okay, fine,” she threw up her hands in exasperation. “Yes, I was with Daryl.”

   “Did you sleep with him?” Her sister narrowed her eyes, obviously preparing to go into protective mode.

   “No!” Beth stopped her. “We just talked, we barely even kissed.”

   Tara was still cracking up. “Tongue?” she asked.

   “No.”

   “Under the shirt action?”

   “No.”

   “Under the _pants_ action?”

   “No!” Beth exclaimed. “It was just a kiss, two kisses actually but that doesn’t matter.”

   “Where were you two?”

   “His dorm.” Beth hated that she kept lying to her sister, but she wasn’t sure there was any other choice. Things with Daryl were still so new and Beth was smart enough to know that new meant ‘fragile’. The last thing she wanted was Maggie freaking out and getting in her head. Which was exactly what would happen if she found out that Beth was seeing a middle-aged bartender. Beth didn’t care, but other people most definitely would. 

   Maggie clapped her palms over her ears. “Stop! I changed my mind, I do not want to hear about my baby sister staying the night in some guy’s dorm room!”

   Tara rolled her eyes at Maggie. “Please, I lived in the room next to you freshman year. Don’t try and call Beth a baby when we all know what you were doing when you were her age.” With a wink, Tara leaned over the island to give Beth a fist bump.

   Beth smiled back gratefully but still assured Maggie, “We didn’t do anything, I swear.”

   Maggie cautiously lowered her hands. “Okay I believe you. It’s just weird.”

   “No weirder than me finding your birth control pills!” Beth scoffed. “ _That_ was scarring.”

   Tara quickly cut off Maggie’s response. “I think we can both admit that it’s weird when your siblings become sexually active.” Beth opened her mouth to protest that she wasn’t even sexually active, but Tara held up a hand to silence her. “I freaked out when Lily told me she was pregnant and she was the only one who didn’t see my ‘I’m super gay’ bomb coming. You’ve just gotta suck it up and move past it.”

   “Lily seriously couldn’t tell that you’re a lesbian?”

   Tara shrugged, “I just don’t think she’d put much thought about what was going between my legs.”

   “Oh my god!” Beth exclaimed.

   “Nice.” Maggie responded at the same time. Then after a pause she added, “So since your dad totally knew are you implying that _he_ thought about what went between your legs?”

   “Gross! Stop it, Maggie!” Beth was turning red again, she was pretty sure that soon she would just be sporting a permanent sunburn.

   “I think dad’s spend plenty of time thinking about all of the people that could be banging their kids. In the least creepy way possible…”

   “Can we please talk about something else?” Beth begged. Three hours of sleep was not enough for her brain to handle this conversation.

   “Maggie’s got a date tonight.” Tara offered.

   “With who?”

   Tara made a face, “My new T.O., Shane.”

   “What’s a T.O?” Beth asked, confused.

   “Training officer,” Maggie explained, cutting in. “He just moved here a few months ago from King’s County.”

   “Maggie of course had to zero in on him immediately.” Tara gagged, and Maggie pushed her playfully.

   “I wonder if he knew that officer who almost died a few years back.” Beth wondered aloud.

   Her sister’s eyes shone with excitement as she spoke in an exaggerated whisper. “He _did_ , he was _there_.”

   “The guy’s name was Rick and he was Shane’s partner, actually. He’s fine now though. Shane told me that he and his wife just had another baby not too long ago.”

   Beth felt a sense of relief, even though she had never actually met the man or his family. Back when that shootout had happened it had been huge news for all the surrounding areas. It wasn’t that no one had been ever shot there before, in an area with so much hunting accidents just happened.  But it was the first time in decades that anyone there had been shot in cold blood, and the first time a police officer had been. The story had been all over the newspapers for weeks before it was swept aside by flood season. At least he was okay now.

   “So how did you meet Shane?” She asked Maggie.

   “Tara invited me to go out with them all one night after work. We just kind of hit it off.”

   “I’ll say!” Tara snorted.

   “He’s an amazing kisser.” Maggie winked at her roommate, a sly smile spreading across her face.

   Beth scoffed, “How on earth can you freak out about me kissing a boy before a date but it’s perfectly fine for you to do it? With someone you’d just met!”

   “Because I’m the big sis- Wait… You’re going on a date with him?”

   _Shit_ , Beth cursed internally. She had actually managed to get them off the topic of her love life for a few minutes and now here they were again. Before she could figure out a way to divert the topic back to Maggie, a knock on the door saved her the trouble.

   Maggie and Tara exchanged a confused glance, clearly not having been expecting anyone. All three of them moved curiously to the door, Tara calling out, “Who is it?”

   “Pizza.” Came a muffled voice from the other side.

   The girls exchanged another confused look as Maggie pulled open the door.

   “Whoa, hey.” An Asian guy stood in the doorway, holding a large pizza and looking surprised to see more than one person at the door. “Uh, okay, I’ve got a large pizza with sausage and green peppers.”

   “Sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong apartment. We didn’t order a pizza.”

   “Who even orders a pizza at 11 AM?” Beth wondered aloud.

   “People who are high.” The delivery guy answered bluntly as he looked the girls over. “But you three clearly aren’t, is this not 2C?” He looked at the number on their doorway.

   “It is,” Maggie answered. “I think that’s supposed to go to 3C though, someone must have given you the wrong door number. They’re right above us and I can guarantee that they’re the ones who ordered pizza this early.”

   “Thanks, sorry to bother you.” He turned to go, but Tara stopped him.

   “Wait!” All of them turned to look at her. “It just smells really good,” she shrugged. “Can we give you an order for later today?”

   The delivery guy started laughing. “Just call it in for whenever you want it and I’ll bring it over. I’ll even give you guys a discount for the trouble.” He shot Maggie a shy smile right before he turned to walk away, but she didn’t seem to notice.

   “Thanks!” She called out as she closed their door.

   “He was cute.” Tara looked at Maggie meaningfully as the three girls moved to sit on the living room couches.

   “Said the lesbian,” retorted Maggie.

   “Hey, I’m gay, not blind. He was cuter than Shane.” Tara pressed and Beth laughed as she realized what Tara was getting at.

   “Please,” Maggie scoffed. “Shane is a _real man_ , that guy was a kid. I’m going out with him so you need to deal with it.”

   Tara rolled her eyes, “You suck.”

   “No, but I will be.”

   Beth laid down on the couch, happy that the conversation had seemed to have officially moved away from her and Daryl. Tuning out the girl’s chatter, Beth started to wonder what she should wear tomorrow. Her and Jimmy had never really gone on a real date, they had usually been with another couple or a group. Jeans and a t-shirt were definitely not going to cut it. Pulling out her phone, she texted Rosita.

   “SOS. Date tomorrow! I think we need to go shopping!”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS! Your comments seriously bring me life! I want you to know that you're all so flippity flapping amazing! And yes, I did just use the words "flippity flapping", you're not really a nanny until you've invented weird words for swearing.
> 
> I added Shane into the story because I love him and one day the thought "I bet Shane and Maggie would've had hot sex" popped into my head and I couldn't get it out.
> 
> Also, WHO'S EXCITED TO SEE BETH AGAIN TONIGHT?! Hint: I AM!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola! Comments are as welcome as ever, hope you enjoy!

* * *

  

   “I’m not sure about this.” Beth’s voice sounded strained as she looked herself over in Hayley’s full length mirror.

   “Oh please!” Hayley remarked sassily. “You look fabulous and you know it.”

   “Seriously,” Rosita added. “Would I steer you wrong?”

   “It’s just so not me.”

   “That’s the point! Beth, older men are a whole different ball game. Trust me, I know from experience-“

   “And I know from TV!”  Hayley chimed in.

   “Exactly.” Rosita nodded seriously. “Listen to us. The cutesy, cowgirl thing works on guys our age but it’s not gonna fly with Daryl. He’s gonna want sexy, otherwise what’s the point of dating a younger woman?”

   “Sexy.” Beth repeated, trying to change her view of herself to make room for that. The dress she wore definitely showed enough of her body off to be sexy. It was ridiculously tight and rode up a bit in the back every time she moved. Thankfully tonight was going to be a little chilly because Rosita had agreed to let her buy a small lace cover to wear over the otherwise strapless dress. And she had put up a fuss about wearing red, so at least the black was semi nondescript.

   “Now heels,” Rosita said as she and Hayley dove into Hayley’s extensive shoe collection.

   “No way!” Beth exclaimed. Heels were where she drew the line. The dark makeup, the dress, the straightened hair, all of that she had agreed to. But she had only ever worn heels to her senior prom, and if she was trying to be sexy then stumbling around all night was the last thing she should be doing.

   “You have to wear heels.” Hayley insisted. “Zach, tell her.”

   Zach, who had been lying on Hayley’s bed, actively ignoring the three girls, grunted in response.

   “Zach!” Hayley whined.

   He closed his laptop exasperatedly. “Seriously, why am I here right now? When is Noah gonna be here?”

   “You’re here to give us a male’s perspective. So give it to us and you’re free to go.”

   Zach sighed and turned his eyes to Beth, surveying her up and down as she stood there awkwardly. “Well, for one, that’s what she said. And two, you look hot, you all know she looks hot. She doesn’t need to wear heels to make some old guy wanna bang her.”

   “Thank you!” Beth yelled triumphantly. “I think?”

   He stood up, grabbing his laptop and phone. “You’re welcome, have fun. If you guys need me I’ll be in my room kicking ass at Assassin’s Creed.”

   The three girls watched him leave before Hayley finally spoke.

   “Well there you have it, if you can impress him then you’re obviously doing something right.” Hayley’s eyes glazed over slightly as she continued to stare at the doorway where Zach had just been.

   “Quit mooning!” Rosita snapped her fingers in front of Hayley’s face. “Save it for when she leaves. We’ve only got a few more minutes.”

   “Yes ma’am!” Hayley saluted at Rosita and went back to digging through her shoes.

   Rosita walked over to stand in front of Beth and squeezed her shoulders in support. “You look great, Beth. Just remember all of the stuff I told you and everything will be perfect.”

   Beth nodded, taking a shaky breath. “I don’t understand why I’m so nervous, but I feel like I’m gonna barf.”

   “Well definitely don’t do that.” Rosita cracked up.

   “These!” Hayley yelled out suddenly, holding up a pair of flats. They were cute, Beth could admit, black with a pointed toe and gold studs on the back. She wasn’t sure they’d be comfortable but anything was better than heels.

   Plopping down into the spot that Zach had just vacated, Beth caught the flats as Hayley tossed them to her. Beth slipped them on and laid her legs out on the bed. The shoes were slightly too big, but she’d rather have that then them be pinching her toes all night.

   “Gah!” Rosita clapped as she surveyed Beth. “He is going to fucking die when he sees you!”

   “If he even recognizes me…”

   “Oh shush, you don’t look that different! It’s just a little bit of eyeliner and lipstick.”

   Beth stood up and walked back over to the mirror. “My mouth looks like a coin purse.” She pouted as she poked at her lips.

   Haley burst out laughing, “What does that even mean?”

   “No idea,” Beth shrugged. “I heard Shawn say that to Maggie once and I’m pretty sure it was meant to be an insult.”

   Rosita shook her head in exasperation. “You look fantastic. Now go or you’ll be late. Plus, Hayley hasn’t thought about Zach for a solid minute so we need to get back to that.”

   “Not true, I was thinking about him this entire time.”

   Beth laughed and hugged them both before she turned to leave. Rosita and Hayley followed her into the hallway, waving like she was their daughter off to her first dance. Taking a deep breath, Beth steeled herself as she walked down the dorm hallway.

   “Don’t throw up!” Rosita called down the hallway before she and Hayley closed the door to their room.

   “Don’t throw up.” She quietly repeated to herself. 

* * *

 

   Daryl blew out a long puff of air as he stood outside of Beth’s building. He’d gotten here way too early so all he’d had to do for the past fifteen minutes was pace nervously. That, and imagine every single thing that could go wrong on this date tonight. He felt like an idiot, dressed all fancy in his new clothes. Carol had even forced him to put some sort of hair product in his hair to keep it out of his face.

   Merle had given him a look as he had walked out the door, making sure that Daryl knew exactly what his big brother thought of his appearance. Not that Merle’s judgment meant too much to him regarding this subject. Daryl was hardly trying to impress the type of women that his brother brought home on a regular basis. If putting goddamn gel in his hair was what it took to impress Beth, then he would do it.

   This meant something to him.

   “Daryl?” He heard Beth’s soft voice behind him, feeling slightly relieved to hear the nervousness in her tone.

   The correct response upon seeing her would have been to smile and say a polite ‘hello’. Instead, he turned around and his mouth dropped open. All he could get out was a shocked “Whoa”.

   Clearly that was a mistake though because Beth turned bright red and stopped a few feet from him.

   “What does that mean?” She blurted out.

   “I just think you look nice, is all.” Daryl tried to explain calmly, but he could hear his voice crack as he spoke.

   “Oh.” Beth visibly relaxed at his answer. She had clearly been expecting him to say something completely different. How could she seriously think that he’d think she was anything except beautiful.

   _Beautiful_ , he cringed at his brain’s choice of words. Merle would beat the shit out of him if he ever heard Daryl speak that word out loud.

   “Well,” Daryl cleared his throat. “Do you wanna go?”

   “Sure. Where did you park?” Beth craned her head to look into the parking lot.

   It was Daryl’s turn to go bright red. “I walked… Uh, I’ve only got my bike and I wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable with riding on the back of it.” He gestured to her outfit, “Probably the right call.”

   Beth tugged at the bottom of her dress nervously. “Alright, it’s just this way.” She gestured down the street in the direction that he’d just come from.

   The pair set off, walking side by side in silence. For a few minutes an awkward tension filled the air. Daryl couldn’t figure it out. They had kissed twice, spent hours alone together, and it was awkward _now_? All he could focus on was the occasional bump of his hand against Beth’s. That and the uncomfortable material of this damn shirt Carol had picked out.

   “You meant a motorcycle, right? When you said ‘bike’?” Beth finally spoke.

   “Yeah! Christ, you seriously think I’m a grown man who doesn’t have my life together enough to own an actual vehicle?”

   Beth looked mortified, until she saw the smirk across Daryl’s face.

   “Damn, Daryl!” She laughed, swatting his arm. “I’m just trying to make conversation and you gotta go and scare me half to death.”

   He nudged her playfully, “I’m a grown man who lives with his brother, sleeps on a mattress on the floor, and bartends. Assuming that I don’t have it together enough to own a vehicle is a normal conclusion to jump to.”

   Beth nudged him back. “You know, I really like that grown man who lives with his brother and sleeps on a mattress on the floor, so you should try being nicer to him.” She interlaced her fingers with his own, “Plus not owning a car is all the rage nowadays. It would just make you seem environmentally conscious.”

   Daryl felt his heartbeat pick up as she squeezed his hand and continued to hold it as they walked. Her hand felt unbelievably small in his as her fingers brushed his knuckles softly. Forcing himself to relax and just let himself enjoy this, Daryl returned the pressure.

   “So is this place close by?” He asked after they had walked another half mile. “We actually ain’t too far from my apartment.”

   “Oh really? Is that an invitation, Mr. Dixon?” Beth smiled and raised her eyebrows at him.

   Daryl felt his skin burn but he couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment, or something else entirely. Maybe it was best if he didn’t know.

   Unsure of what to say, he simply turned his face away so that she couldn’t see his expression.

  Beth laughed, probably knowing exactly what he was thinking, and mercifully changed the subject. “I am so damn glad that I didn’t wear heels. My feet are already killing me, it would have been brutal.”

   He wasted no time in jumping on the new topic. “Never got why women wore shoes if they weren’t comfortable. You all spend so much money on ‘em too.”

   “It’s ‘cause they look so cute.” Beth stated matter of factly, pointing down to her feet.

   Daryl just shrugged. They were nice looking but he still didn’t understand it. “I’ll take your word for it.”

   Silence fell over the pair again, except this time it was a comfortable one. Their hands still intertwined, Daryl let himself continue to just give into the moment. Her hand fit well in his and the way their elbows kept bumping together made his heart jump. All of the nerves and self doubt didn’t matter anymore.

   They were here and it was good.

   After a minute or so, Beth began humming. Whatever it was, he could tell she was in tune. He was willing to bet that this small girl who stood so close to him could sing like an angel. It didn’t take him long to figure out the song, either.

   “Are you humming Let It Snow?” He asked, looking around as if he’d see snow suddenly appear on the ground.

   Beth seemed confused at his question at first, then burst into laughter after a moment of thought. “Oh yeah, I guess I was.”

   Daryl tugged lightly at the sheer lace sleeves of her dress. “Hate to break it to ya, but it’s September. And only in the fifties.”

  “Yeah yeah, I know. It’s just a catchy song.”

   “Actually,” a long forgotten memory flickered through Daryl’s thoughts. “I had to sing that at my second grade Christmas concert.”

   Beth’s mouth dropped open. “I _need_ to hear about that.”

   Before he could say anything, though, she slowed to a stop in front of a restaurant with a giant neon sign that read ‘Yang’s Dragon’.

   “Here we are!” She announced.

   The place looked pretty shady, but Daryl wasn’t about to shoot down Beth’s idea. Letting go of her hand, Daryl stepped around Beth to open the door. She smiled at the gesture as she walked inside. He followed her in and couldn’t help but notice that her dress had ridden up in the back so that her ass was slightly exposed.

   _Fuck_ , Daryl quickly averted his gaze toward the ceiling. _Was she not wearing panties_?

   “How many?” The hostess greeted them brightly, distracting him.

   “Two.” He answered them quickly and made sure to walk in front of Beth on the way to their booth.

   The girl filled up their glasses with water and left two menus on the table before walking away. Daryl didn’t even have a chance to reach for a menu before Beth spoke.

   “So,” she said excitedly, “Tell me about this Christmas recital.”

   Daryl chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, that’s not a story I’m ever gonna tell ya. I didn’t even mean to bring it up.”

   Beth leaned toward him, a serious look in her eyes. “Daryl Dixon, I am not one for blackmail but I swear to god if you don’t tell me about you _singin’ in a Christmas recital_ I will never forgive you.”

   “You mean that?”

   “Oh, I definitely mean it.”

   Daryl put his hands up, “Alright, I’ll surrender. There ain’t much to tell though. The kid who was supposed to sing it got the flu and my teacher forced me to take his place. Said I needed to participate more, and that was how I was gonna start.”

   “Please tell me there’s video of it!”

   “Doubt it.” Daryl shrugged. “My parents weren’t exactly the kind of people who went to those things and Merle was in juvie by that point so there wasn’t really anyone to record it. My teacher probably got a video, wanna go track down? Tell her that was bullshit that she made me sing up in front of all of ‘em.” He laughed at his own, bad joke, but he could tell she wasn’t buying it.

   “Hey,” her tone was serious now and she bumped his leg under the table. “That sucks, I’m sorry.”

   He shrugged again, feeling like an asshole. It felt like he was constantly doing this with her- taking a good time and bringing it down.

   “It ain’t nothin’.” He mumbled as he rapped the table with his knuckles.

   “You’re right, it ain’t. It’s not on you, at least.” Beth assured and before Daryl knew what was happening she had reached over the table for him.

   Tugging at his shirt’s collar, she brought his lips to hers in a firm kiss. Even though he’d been caught off guard, it didn’t take him long to react. Scooting forward in his seat, Daryl rose slightly to give himself a better angle of her mouth. Her lips parted slightly at his movement and he felt her grip onto his shirt tighter.

   It wasn’t long, and it was as chaste as their first kiss, but Daryl felt dizzy as he sat back down. Beth took a deep breath in as she plopped back into her seat and smiled shyly at him from across the booth.

   “Well shit, if I knew that shitty parents got you all hot and bothered I would’ve started talking about my childhood ages ago.” 

   “Stop.” Beth’s voice grew quiet and serious at his joke. “I don’t want you to think that’s why I kissed you. Why I like you.”

   “I know,” he nodded. “It’s my charm and the table manners you know you’ll probably see from me tonight.”

   “Yeah, I can only imagine.” Beth didn’t say why she _had_ kissed him, and he was glad about that. It would have led to deeper topics than he wanted to get into on a first date, maybe ever. Not that they hadn’t gotten into deep topics before, because really they seemed to be doing this thing backwards.

   Not tonight, though. Tonight he wanted to buy Beth Greene dinner, make lame small talk, and just keep on giving in to the good.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So… Sunday night's episode… I was pretty devastated about the entire thing. At first. As a few days have passed though I've decided that I truly do not think that Beth is dead. The majority of what's happened in the show (and even some stuff behind the scenes) point to her surviving, in my opinion. If anyone wants to talk about it feel free to find me on tumblr at Rosehathawhey! If you don't have a tumblr then you need to get one! There are so many great people in the Bethyl fandom on tumblr.
> 
> In terms of the story: ONLY HAPPY STUFF IN THIS CHAPTER TO BALANCE OUT THE HORRIBLE SADNESS FROM SUNDAY'S EPISODE! I hope you enjoy!

   

* * *

 

Beth was almost certain that this date was going to end in Daryl getting sick. She shouldn't be so happy about it, but for some reason watching him choke down a spoonful of fish eggs had her laughing so hard that there were tears rolling down her face. She didn't even mind that her eyeliner was getting everywhere, this was _fun_.

   "That is god damn disgusting." Daryl coughed as he swallowed, grimacing the entire time.

   "Aw, come on, it's not that bad!"

   "No, that is disgusting. I've eaten a lot of shit in my time and that's the worst of it."

   "You've eaten a lot of shit in your time?"

   Daryl rolled his eyes at her lame joke. "Ya know what I mean. Opossum, snake, eaten more squirrel than I can count. And that's still the worst of it."

   "You've eaten opossum?" Beth's eyes widened. "What did that taste like?"

   "Not too bad. It was from pretty deep in the woods so it only really ate bugs and stuff. Mostly just tasted burnt, I wasn't too good at cooking over a fire at that point."

   Beth shivered at the thought, taking a gulp of her water as if it would get the taste of opossum out of her brain. "So you hunt?"

   Daryl nodded and took a bite of his fried rice. "Yeah, since I was a kid. I'm a real good tracker, actually. Merle's a better shot but he can't find shit unless I'm there."

   "My daddy's farm hand, Otis, hunts a lot. Deer mostly. What kind of gun do you use?"

   "No guns, gun powder makes the animal taste like shit, especially when the animal is small. I got a crossbow that I bought a few years back. Most expensive thing I've ever owned."

   She didn't even try to hide her excitement about that. "You have to show me! I've wanted to learn to do that since I was a kid."

   "It ain't that hard."

   Beth scoffed at his nonchalance. "Yes. It is. When I was a kid I was in love with Legolas, I watched all of his behind the scenes stuff. I know how much goes into learning how to shoot one."

   "Legolas? He was the blonde fairy, right?" Daryl teased.

   Beth felt a blush spread across her face. "For your information, he was an elf. And yes, Legolas was the blonde one. I had a poster of him in my bedroom long past the appropriate age."

   “I never saw those movies. A little bit of ‘em on TV but that’s it.”

   “Date number two? Movie night?”

   Daryl grinned at her, and Beth couldn’t help but return it. She was pretty sure she had spent most of the last hour smiling and it was only a matter of time before her cheeks started hurting. Even Daryl let out his reluctant smile more than she had ever seen before.

   “Date number two, huh?” Daryl scratched at the back of his neck and averted his gaze.

   “Only if you want to.” Beth bit her lip nervously. Even knowing that his answer would most likely be yes, she still felt like it was a leap to put herself out there.

   Daryl looked up at her through the strands of his hair that had fallen into his face. His blue eyes looking so serious that her breath caught. He smiled slightly as he nodded. “Yeah,” he finally answered. “I want to.”

   “Good.” Beth felt her shoulders sag in relief; she hadn’t even realized that they had tensed up.

   “Can I get you two anything? Desert? A coffee?”

   Beth and Daryl both jumped slightly, too wrapped up in each other’s gazes to realize their waiter had walked up to the table. Beth looked over at Daryl, letting him take the lead on what they should do next.

   “I think we’re done, if that’s okay with you?” Beth nodded and he continued. “Can we just get the check?”

   “Sure thing, I’ll be back in a minute.” The waiter placed their bill on the table and walked away.

   Beth went to reach for it but Daryl grabbed it first.

   “You don’t seriously think I’d let you pay for this, do you?” Daryl looked at her incredulously as he pulled cash from his pocket.

   “I mean, I was the one who asked you out so doesn’t that mean I pay?”

   “You didn’t ask me out. You just asked me to ask you out.” Daryl grinned at her.

   “Well let’s go get some ice cream and you can at least let me pay for that.”

   “Alright.” Daryl agreed, handing the waiter the bill. “You can keep the change.”

   Beth stood up as the waiter left, stretching her arms behind her back. She felt the dress start to pull up again and quickly dropped her hands to pull it back down. Never again would she wear a dress this short. Maybe other people could pull it off but it just wasn’t for her. Daryl seemed to like her enough that she didn’t need to be sexy if she didn’t want to. Sweatshirts were definitely in store for date number two.

   Daryl followed her lead as she exited Yang’s Dragon, walking closely behind her. As soon as they got outside Daryl grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers again. Beth didn’t even bother holding back the huge smile that spread across her face at his gesture.

   “There’s a place up this way.” Daryl motioned with his head, tugging on her hand lightly as he started off in the direction he had pointed to.

   “Good first date question: what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?”

   “Easy. Chocolate chip cookie dough.” Daryl answered without hesitation.

   “You’re gonna think I’m so weird, but pistachio is my favorite. Ever since I was a kid.”

   Beth laughed at the way Daryl squinted his eyes at her in disgust.

   “I’ve never even heard of that, there’s no way in hell it tastes good.”

   “You’ve gotta try it!” She defended. “I promise it’s amazing.”

   Daryl grumpily agreed, adding an eye roll in for extra effect.

   “Favorite food?” He asked her after a moment.

   “Oh wow, that’s a tough one… Probably my mom’s mac and cheese. She bakes it and adds in a little bit of hot sauce. It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted.” Beth’s eyes glazed over as she imagined the dish her mom had made for every single one of Beth’s birthdays for the past fifteen years. Everyone was always there for her birthday; even Shawn and Maggie would come home for that weekend. Being the youngest got obnoxious, but it definitely had its perks.

   “Yours is better than mine, I was gonna say Doritos.” Daryl interrupted her twinge of homesickness, making her crack up.

   “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Doritos. Plus I’m sure you’ll taste my mom’s cooking someday.”

   Daryl turned his head so fast that Beth was shocked he didn’t get whiplash. The look on his face told her that her shock was probably nothing to his.

   "Kidding..." Beth laughed nervously, averting her gaze to look down at the ground. What the hell had made her even say that? This was a first date, you did not say those things on a first date. He was going to think she was some idiot teenager mooning over him.

   "Yeah," Daryl smirked and shook his head. "I'm sure your family would love me."

   His voice was dripping with sarcasm but he didn't seem to be upset. Truthfully, he was right. Her mother would kill her if anyone ever found out about Daryl. The rest of her family would skip over her in favor of killing him instead. Either way, if this thing between them kept going it would be a while before Beth could tell her parents about it.

   Unexpectedly, Daryl came to a halt and tugged her towards him. Beth automatically lifted herself on her toes to reach him as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Their hands still clasped together, Daryl brought his other one up to her cheek. Beth's head spun as he pulled his mouth from hers too soon. Always too soon; she was going to have to fix that.

   "What was that for?" Beth asked, a small smile lighting up her face. Their bodies were still pressed lightly together, which was more than alright with her.

   Daryl didn't answer, just gestured with his head to the ice cream shop that was behind them. "We're here." He said simply and walked into the building.

   With the closeness of him gone, Beth felt a chill run down her spine. As if she was just noticing the cold. Tugging at her dress, which of course had ridden up during their kiss, she quickly followed him inside. Beth immediately noticed Daryl pulling out his wallet as he walked up to the register.

   "Absolutely not." She moved in front of him and dug her credit card out of her purse. "I already told you that I was paying for the ice cream."

   Daryl looked like he was on the verge of arguing but instead conceded. Slipping his wallet back into his pocket, he mumbled something under his breath.

   "What was that?" Beth challenged.

   "Nothing," Daryl shrugged. "Just thinkin' this feminist movement could do wonders for my wallet. Not that I was going on many dates before this."

   "Daryl Dixon, just shut up and accept the free ice cream." Beth teased him, earning her a full-blown laugh from him.

   Holding up his hands in surrender, he agreed, “Alright, alright. Just get me a cup of cookie dough ice cream.”

   Beth turned away from him to order from the bored looking teenager that stood behind the register. The boy didn’t even look up at them as he took their money and handed over the cups of ice cream. Beth raised her eyebrows at Daryl as the boy went right back to his phone before they’d even left the store.

   Finding a bench down the street to sit on, Daryl plopped down with a groan. Resisting the urge to make a ‘you’re so old’ joke, she sat down next to him. Beth angled her body towards his, close enough that their thighs pressed together.

   “Do you like your job?” Beth asked, thinking about the boy who had just rung them up. “Ya know, more than that kid did back there.”

   Daryl was silent for a moment as he thought it over. “Yeah, I like it enough. It’s decent money and keeps Merle out of trouble. “

   “You make it sound like he’s your kid or something.”

   “He kinda is,” Daryl shrugged. “Always getting in trouble for something. I ain’t exactly calm but I got more impulse control than Merle does, that’s for sure.”

   “Was it like that when you were kids?”

   “Merle and I didn’t really know each other when we were kids. By the time I got old enough to talk and all that, he was already in and out of juvie. Next there was the army, then jail after that. Once he got out we stuck together, been that way for about ten years now.”

   Beth nodded, looking him over closely as he spoke. His eyes held a far off look, and a pained one at that. She wished that she knew what to do in this moment. Her instincts were telling her to reach out and touch him, but what if that was the wrong decision? Jimmy had never had any sort of sorrow like the kind Daryl carried. Daryl’s general demeanor of gruffness made it clear to Beth that he was just trying to maintain some sort of façade. Maybe it was to himself, or others, or both.

   She decided to give into what her instincts were telling her. They had yet to steer her in _that_ wrong of a direction with him.

   Leaning forward, Beth kissed his cheek lightly, smiling at how he jumped at her touch. Clearly the guy had been deep enough in thought to forget she was sitting right next to him, Beth would try not to be offended about that.

   “What was that for?” Daryl asked, probably already knowing the answer.

   “I’unno,” Beth shrugged. “Just wanted to is all.”

   Daryl raised his eyebrows skeptically, “That so?”

   Beth blushed and bit her lip as she avoided his gaze. “I guess I just want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I mean, not unless you want me to.”

   When Daryl didn’t respond, she felt herself begin to panic. Maybe she had overstepped, maybe that was too serious of a thing to say on a _first fucking date_. She was an idiot.

   Nudging the hand that held her cup of ice cream, Daryl stuck his spoon into it. Beth finally looked up at him and laughed as he gagged on her butter pecan ice cream.

   He was smiling at her, a small one but it was there. “You’ve got god awful taste in ice cream, but yeah, I still think you should stick around.”

   Beth smiled back at him, deciding her instincts weren’t so bad after all.

  


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments on the last chapter! They make me so happy and you guys are just the greatest! I'm sorry this took so long to upload, finals week has been brutal. I've got the next few weeks off so I'll definitely be updating more frequently.
> 
> Sorry about any grammar errors, I wanted to get this up so I just glanced over it before uploading it.

* * *

 

    The way she was looking up at him made his pulse race at an impossible speed. Her eyes, wide and shining bright blue through the dark, stared up at him expectantly. Daryl wasn't afraid though, he probably looked down at her with the same eagerness.

   Licking her lips, Beth smiled shyly as she looked to her left and right. There was no one. It was only the two of them standing outside of Beth's building now.

   "Thanks for tonight." Beth spoke, her hand reaching out to tug at his sleeve.

   Daryl only grunted in response, causing her mouth to quirk up in amusement. At least she seemed to understand what he wasn't able to say. Not that that was an excuse. This girl, in such a short time, knew more about him than everyone in his entire life combined. Merle, his mother, his father; for some reason he kept spilling his damn guts to her.

   Beth pulled gently at his sleeve again and this time Daryl responded to it.

   Pushing her hair back behind her ear, Daryl cupped her cheek. Beth swiftly rose up on her toes to meet him.  Her skin felt impossibly smooth, but maybe that was just the rough of his palms; years of hunting and scavenging had taken its toll. None of that mattered right now though, not with this girl in front of him who smelled like lilacs-

   _How the hell did he even know what a lilac smelled like?_

   Beth brushed her nose against his in a gesture of intimacy that should have been the final straw that sent him running. Instead he brought their lips together. Daryl could taste the ice cream on her and he couldn't stop himself from running his tongue across her bottom lip. She let out a small sigh at the gesture, pushing her body tighter against his.

  Daryl obliged, snaking his other hand up to the back of her neck to pull her even closer. Her hair was soft, her skin was soft, her lips were soft; it should have terrified him.

   It didn't. Instead, it made him want more.

   Beth moved her arms from between their two bodies to wrap them around his neck. The hairs on the back of Daryl's neck stood on end as she gently ghosted the tips of her fingers across his skin. She wrapped a finger around a strand of his hair, the slight tug of it spurring him on. Daryl tightened his grip on the back of her neck, as if he could make her come any closer. Beth opened her mouth and touched her tongue to his before quickly pulling it back.

   Daryl had to fight not to smile; she was trying to see how far she could take things. He wasn't about to stop her. His thumb stroked her cheek as he opened her mouth further and let his tongue explore hers. She responded immediately, their tongues awkwardly colliding before slipping into a comfortable rhythm. Beth tasted sweet, and Daryl was sure it wasn't just because of the ice cream. The kisses in his past had been stale with the taste of booze and cigarettes.

   Not Beth, she was god damn perfect.

   A high-pitched squeal from behind him made Daryl jump, pulling his mouth from Beth's. Their faces still just inches apart, Beth breathed heavily and wiped some spit from the side of her mouth. She looked embarrassed at the act but neither got a chance to say anything to each other before the high-pitched squeal spoke.

   "I knew that dress was a good idea!" Rosita stumbled up to the two of them. Three other equally drunk looking kids stared at him excitedly behind Rosita.

  "Hey, my shoes helped!" Complained the other girl who had been with Beth at The Moonshine Shack the week before. Pushing her way past Rosita, the girl planted herself in front of Daryl and stuck her hand out.

  "I'm Hayley! And you are seriously to die for!" Hayley leaned around him and loudly whispered to Beth, "You were totally right, I just didn't get a good look at him the other night! 'Ruggedly handsome' for sure."

   Daryl snorted and shook Hayley's hand. "Ruggedly handsome, huh?"

  "I did not say that!" Beth shoved in front of him. "Noah, can you please take them inside? I'm trying to say good night here."

   "That's not all you were doing!" Hayley shouted, causing their group to start laughing hysterically. Even with Beth's back to him, Daryl could still practically hear her rolling her eyes.

   "This is kind of what being a bartender is like." Daryl leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

   Laughing, Beth elbowed him lightly in the stomach. "Don't encourage them." She smirked up at him, giving him a look that only confirmed she was the Mother Hen of this little group. From the way she'd attempted to get Noah's help, Daryl assumed he was the Dad. Noah simply stood with a glazed over look though, swaying slightly back and forth.

   Which fit in pretty well with Daryl's idea of father figures, actually.

   "You should come inside and hang out with us." Rosita spoke up with Hayley nodding vigorously in the background.

   Daryl's mouth dropped open in horror at the invitation. Spending time in a dorm room with a bunch of drunk college kids? No. _Hell_ no.

   The only problem was that as Daryl's face morphed into one of horror, Beth's eyes lit up deviously.

   "Yeah, Daryl," she said in a voice dripping with nauseating amounts of sweetness.

   Beth looked at him challengingly. "You should _totally_ come hang out with us. It'll be so fun!"

   "Uh, no. No thanks, guys. It's pretty late so I gotta get home."

   "It's not even midnight, Daryl Dixon. I know for a fact that you've been out way later than this. Come on!"

   The pretty boy walked up and patted Daryl’s shoulder roughly. It took everything in his power not to punch the kid in the face. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that Daryl didn’t like to be touched; except for by Beth.

   “Man, you’re a bartender,” the kid scoffed. “You’re gonna have to come up with a better excuse than ‘it’s too late’. Even Hayley could call that one a mile away.”

   Hayley opened her mouth, presumably in protest, but Rosita cut her off before she could make any sound beyond a squeak.

   “Make your lover boy come in with us. All I know is that I’ve been standing up too long.” Rosita tugged Hayley along as she walked into the building. The two guys shrugged and followed.

   It left him and Beth alone once again, except this time the eager look in her eyes didn’t excite him.

   “Don’t make me.” He practically begged her.

   “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

   “For who?”

   “Me.” Beth laughed, taking Daryl’s hand in her own.

   If anyone ever found out about this situation, Daryl would tell them that she dragged him kicking and screaming into it. But the truth was that he walked into it willingly. Their night had been about to end, and Daryl hadn’t wanted that. Choosing between leaving her and dealing with her friends was just choosing between the lesser of two evils.

   He was going to kick himself for it in about fifteen minutes though.

 

* * *

 

   Poor Daryl looked like he was kicking himself for agreeing to come with Beth and her friends. She and her friends were all sitting around Zach and Noah's dorm room, but not Daryl. They had been here for almost a half hour and he still stood hovering awkwardly near the door. Beth should have felt bad, but it was too funny to see him squirm.

   "Sit down, Daryl." Beth patted the space next to where she sat cross-legged.  Noah had lent her a pair of sweatpants to wear under her dress so that she wasn’t flashing all of her friends.

   "Ain't there rules against me being here? Like an age limit or something?"

   "If anyone asks we can just tell them you're Beth's dad." Rosita cracked.

   Beth shot her a dirty look and stuck her leg out to kick her. "Daryl, you're fine. No one is going to care. We'll just say we forgot to sign you in and then have to go do it."

  Noah piped up, speaking for the first time that night. "Yeah but you had better hope that doesn't happen because you'll have to get an ID picture. No one looks good in those."

   Daryl laughed at Noah's words and examined her friend closely. Noah really didn't look so good, still swaying slightly even though he was sitting on the bed. Nodding to himself, Daryl grabbed the waste basket by the door and brought it over to the side of the bed.

   "If you're gonna throw up then do it in this." He explained simply before going to sit down next to Beth.

   She smiled as he gave her a side-eye glance and mimicked her sitting position. Her friends had gone back to chatting loudly about something that Beth, being sober, couldn't understand.

   "Is this what your friends were like when you were my age?" Beth nodded towards them, voice lowered so only Daryl could hear.

   "Mostly," he shrugged. "We were definitely doing more drugs than I'm betting you guys do, but yeah. Really it was just sitting in someone's house getting shitfaced."

   "I've done drugs!" Beth defended, not really sure why she felt it was something that needed defending.

   Daryl seemed to agree. "You don't gotta defend the fact that you don't do drugs to me. I'm not recommending it or anything like that. Any near death experience I've got has come as a result of being high. Well, that and the people I was hanging with."

   "Okay good because really the only time I ever did drugs was by accident in seventh grade."

   Daryl cracked up at that. "Now there's gotta be a story there."

   A blush spread across Beth's face at the memory. This guy who had done so many crazy things in his life was going to think she was an idiot.

Or a square, as Patricia would call it.

   "It was stupid," Beth explained. "I was what- twelve or thirteen? Some of my friends had started smoking and so I wanted to do it too. The only person I knew who smoked was Shawn though. So one weekend while he was working in the barn I snuck into his room and stole a cigarette out of his drawer, then went out to the woods to smoke it. Except it wasn't a cigarette... It was pot. And I was too stupid to bring a mint out with me so my mama smelled it on me as soon as I got back inside. She nearly killed me and Shawn, but thankfully I was too out of it to care."

   Daryl just laughed even harder. "Damn girl, you've got the most ridiculously picturesque life I've ever heard of. And I can't believe these words are about to come out of my mouth but, it's sweet."

   "That's just because you're sweet on me." Beth teased, feeling bold by his declaration.

   He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Rosita.

    "Look at you two being all cute over there! And you were saying how much you wanted to throw up before tonight!"

   “I’ll try not to be insulted by that.” Daryl said, Beth’s mouth hanging open at her friend.

   Thankfully he didn’t actually look too insulted, because Beth was too busy giving Rosita a dirty look to defend herself.

   Zach decided this was the perfect time to jump in.

   “They made me sit in here and give my opinion on like fifty different hairstyles and outfits. I liked the red one better, by the way.”

   Beth self consciously adjusted the bottom of her dress before remembering she was wearing pants under it now.

   “Speaking of The Moonshine Shack-“ Rosita spoke.

   “We weren’t talking about-“

   “Whatever,” Rosita stopped Beth from correcting her. “Is that Abe guy single?”

   Daryl huffed out a breath of laughter. “Been divorced about two years now. I wouldn’t go there though, he ain’t exactly the relationship type.”

   “Rosita’s not either.” Noah mumbled from the bed, looking even sicker than he had a few minutes ago.

   Rosita and Hayley nodded in agreement and looked at Daryl expectantly.

   “Uhhh…” He looked over at Beth for help.

   “Just tell her something about him.” She leaned in to whisper so that Rosita wouldn’t hear.

   Daryl rolled his eyes, but obliged. Beth didn’t hear him though. Slowly slipping into her own mind, she imagined what her and Daryl’s second date might be like. If it was going to be at his house then there would be no one to interrupt them from… Beth shivered, whether it was from nerves or anticipation she wasn’t sure. Not that anything _too_ serious was going to happen, but it would just be different.

   Before she could think too much about it, Beth was pulled back into the present by the sound of retching. Grimacing, Beth realized that Noah was vomiting into the trashcan that Daryl had given him.

   “Alright kids, time to call it a night.” Daryl stood and walked over to get a water bottle for Noah. All of her friends groaned at his declaration, but surprisingly they listened to him.

     Beth laughed as Hayley and Rosita shuffled out of the room, and Zach flopped onto his own bed and immediately started snoring. Leaving Noah the water bottle on his nightstand, Beth followed Daryl out into the hallway.

   “Thanks for that.”

   “It’s nothing, just a regular night for a bartender.”

   Opening her mouth to speak, Beth let out a yawn instead. “Sorry,” Beth giggled in embarrassment. “Guess I’m just tired.”

   “Wanna come by the bar tomorrow night? You can even bring your friends if you want to.”

   Before she could respond Daryl leaned down to kiss her gently. It was just a soft peck, but when he pulled away Beth felt like maybe she was floating.

   She just nodded, afraid if she opened her mouth then she might say something that she would regret.

   “Nigh, Beth.”

   Beth watched him walk away, not moving until he had turned the corner and was no longer in sight. Humming happily to herself, Beth walked into her room and began to get ready for bed.

   She fell asleep with Daryl’s voice running through her head.

_It’s sweet._


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Comments are always appreciated! Now that I'm on break I should be updating more quickly than before. Oh, I realized that I hadn't given the diner a name so I did that in this chapter. I was craving waffles at the time so I can't be blamed for the cheesy name.

  

* * *

 

 

   Daryl felt like a complete idiot as he walked into Waffle Haven. He'd left for work early, telling himself that he couldn’t stand to sit at home and listen to the sound of the lesbians below him who had been shouting at each other all morning. That wasn't true though; the truth was something that Daryl would never admit out loud.

   After picking out his outfit, Carol had insisted that the morning after his date Daryl would stop by the diner and fill her in. He could have just ignored it but he didn’t want her barging into the bar looking for him. She hadn't actually told him what her shift was so hopefully he would miss her. Carol was a nice enough lady, but Daryl wasn't too keen on trading gossip with her like a bored housewife.

  Carol was working, of course. She looked up as Daryl walked in and waved him over excitedly.

   "So?" She eagerly asked once he was stopped in front of her.

  "So nothing."

   Maybe if he just avoided all of her questions he would be off the hook?

  "Did she like the outfit?"

   Daryl looked at her incredulously. "How the hell should I know?"

   "Well did she say you looked nice?" Carol rolled her eyes.

   "I don't remember."

   She didn't say anything, just gave him a look like she was waiting for him to continue. Daryl sighed.

   "Fine. But if we're gonna talk about this then I need a coffee."

   With a snort, Carol walked over to the coffee machine and poured Daryl a cup. Placing it in front of him, she silently raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue.

   What was wrong with him lately that he was just letting these women boss him around?

   "I don't know what ya want me to say."

   "Where did you eat?"

   "Some Chinese place."

   "What did you order?"

   "Fried rice."

   "Was it good?"

   "Yes."

   "What did you drink?"

   "Water."

   "And her?"

   "Coke."

   “Dessert?”

   “Ice cream.”

   “Was _that_ good?”

   “It was ice cream.”

   "How-"

   "Enough!" Daryl cut her off. "Jesus, next time I'll film the damn thing for you."

   Carol's eyes lit up at that. "So there's a next time?!"

   Daryl simply groaned.

   "Just one last thing!" Carol pleaded, not even trying to hide her amusement. "Did you kiss her?"

   "None of your business, lady."

   "So yes."

   "Until her friends interrupted us," he rolled his eyes. "Ended up in a dorm room watching some guy barf."

  "That's what you get for dating a teenager."

   He could tell that she was joking but it still put him on the defensive. "Beth ain't a teenager, alright? Well, she is, but saying it like that makes it sound like she's some high school kid."

   Carol laughed and leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder. "Relax, Daryl. I'm willing to bet that girl is more mature than you are anyway." He'd let that one go since she was probably right. "When are you seeing her next?"

   "I told her to stop by the bar tonight."

   "No, I mean when's your next _date_?"

   Before he could even avoid the question, a blonde girl slid next to Carol behind the counter.

   "Axel's giving you a dirty look." She whispered to Carol as she nodded over her shoulder.

   A man with a "MANAGER" tag displayed on his shirt stood glaring at them through the kitchen window. It was a surprise that Daryl had managed to miss him for so long since Axel had an even dumber mustache than Abe did. He really needed to get out hunting soon, three months of city living and he was losing his touch, apparently.

   Carol shot up from where she had been leaning on the counter, a guilty look on her face.

  "Alright, I've gotta get back to work. I expect to hear all about your second date. Thanks, Amy." She nodded to her blonde coworker and scurried away.

   There was an awkward pause between him and Amy, unsure of what to do next.

   "So..." she finally spoke. "You gonna pay for that coffee?"

   "Oh right," Daryl fumbled around in his pockets before pulling out a ten dollar bill. "Just tell Carol to keep the change."

   He heard Amy thank him but Daryl was already halfway out the door.

   Even walking slowly it still only took a few minutes to get to The Moonshine Shack. He had simply been reluctant to talk to Carol about last night, but he was dreading talking to Abe and Merle about it. They knew that Daryl had gone on a date, he had just left out who the date was with. Except Beth was stopping by the bar tonight, and there was going to be a second date. He could only avoid that revelation for so long.

   Merle hadn't come home the night before so Daryl was thrown to see him waiting with Abe inside the bar.

   "Where were you last night?" Daryl asked before his brother could say anything. His voice sounded casual enough but Merle wasn't buying it.

   "So you came home last night?" Merle countered. "Alone?"

   "Yeah, she's not the kind of girl you fuck on a first date."

   Abe let out a grunt of disbelief. "Ain't no such thing as a girl who won't fuck on first date if you're smooth enough."  

   "Well I ain't smooth and you all know that, so shut the hell up!"

   "Alright, brother! Alright!" Merle put his hands up in surrender, though his amused smirk didn't exactly put Daryl at ease. "So who's the lucky lady?"

   "Wouldn't call her lucky if she's dating Daryl."

   "Fuck off, Abe."

   Daryl roughly pulled out a bar stool and sunk down onto it. If they were going to be dicks to him then they could do tonight's prep work alone.

   "It was Beth." He finally admitted after an extended pause.

   "Who's Beth?" Abe looked between Daryl and Merle confusedly.

   Merle remembered who she was though. Daryl could tell from the way his brother looked at him, mouth hung open in disbelief.

   "Who is she?" Abe asked again.

   "Someone I met-"

   "The blonde princess?" Merle guffawed. "Of all the chicks that come in here you gotta go and pick the most obvious fucking virgin I ever saw!"

   "Fuck you Merle, you don't know shit about her!"

  "I know her daddy's got a shotgun with your name on it!" Merle slammed a liquor bottle that he'd been filling down on the bar. "Daryl, you're gonna get your ass blown to bits."

   Recognition dawned on Abe’s face. “Oh yeah, I remember her! You definitely don’t wanna get yourself mixed up in all that.” The serious look that Abe held morphed into a devious smile. “That friend of hers though- Roseanne right? Now _she’s_ the kind of chick you wanna go for."

  "It's Rosita and she's won't stop asking about you so that wouldn't work out for me either."

   "Now you're trading gossip with her friends? Fuck Daryl," Merle rolled his eyes. "If you're gonna go for a girl like that, or any girl her age for that matter, you don't go on dates with her and cozy up to her friends!"

   "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am." Abe nodded in agreement.

   "I'm not fucking talking about it anymore. The only reason I told you is because she's coming in tonight and I wanted you to get all your stupid advice out of the way before she gets here. Neither of you are allowed to talk to her, understand?"

   Merle snorted and Abe just stared like he wasn't comprehending a word of Daryl’s demand.

   "Doubtful."

* * *

 

   "Pivot! PIVOT!"

   "Shut _up_!" Maggie shouted down the stairs, obviously not finding Tara's joke funny.

   Beth couldn't exactly blame her sister for being annoyed. They had been trying to carry a new couch up their apartment complex's back stairwell for over an hour and had only just made it to the second floor. The slow moving was mostly due to Tara continuously stopping for breaks every few steps.

   When Beth had pointed out that cops were supposed to be fit, Tara had retorted: "I plan to be the donut eating type of cop so this is just preparation for that."

   By the time they actually got it down the hallway and through the apartment door, Maggie and Tara had completely given up. Ignoring the scraping sound it made, they simply pushed it across the living room floor. Maggie immediately flopped down onto the couch and Tara sank onto the floor.

   "That's just embarrassing Maggie." Beth teased as she went to pour herself a glass of water. "You've been away from the farm for three years and already you're getting soft."

   Maggie's response was to throw a pillow across the room at her sister.

   "She has no excuse, I've always been soft so this is what everyone expected of me." Tara rolled over to dodge the pillow that Maggie now launched at her.

   "I'm pretty sure my back is broken. This is why I decided to study business instead of working at the farm for the rest of my life."

   Beth bent over to pick up the pillow Maggie had thrown at her and tossed it back towards her sister.

   "You decided not to work on the farm because couches are heavy?"

   Maggie stuck her tongue out at Beth in response. "Watch it, or I won't give you any pizza."

   "You ordered a pizza?!" Tara shot up to a sitting position, eyes wide with excitement.

   "A while ago." Maggie nodded. "I just told them to deliver it at two because I figured it would take us this long to finish."

   "Plus you knew your boyfriend was going to be working then."

   Beth gasped at that and bounced over to her sister. Pushing Maggie's legs out of the way, Beth kneeled down on the couch to face her sister.

   "Boyfriend? What happened to Shane?"

   Maggie rolled her eyes. "Glenn is _not_ my boyfriend, but turns out it's kind of fun to flirt with the guy. Plus he always gives me a discount. Shane's still in the picture," Tara gagged, "I went out with him last night."

   "And? How was it?"

   With a smug quirk of her eyebrows Maggie stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. "I can't say..." She teased with her back to them.

   "Please don't!" Tara yelled, face scrunched up in disgust.

   "You're no fun!" Beth complained, putting on her best pout. "What kind of big sister are you if you won't divulge your dating stories to me?"

   "One who wants to keep her innocent little sister, well, innocent!"

   "That is such a lie! You say dirty things in front of me all the time and I've yet to be affected. So spill!"

   Just then the doorbell rang, making all three of the girls jump.

   "It must be the pizza." Maggie bounced over to the door, swinging it open to reveal the pizza boy from last time.

   "Hi there," she greeted flirtatiously.

   "Hey!" Glenn responded a little too enthusiastically. Realizing this, he took a small step back and cleared his throat. "Hi," he tried again, clearly having brought his voice down an octave. "You guys ordered a large veggie pizza?"

   "That was me. You're right on time." Maggie smiled up at him and the poor guy visibly gulped.

   Glenn looked down at his watch. "Actually I'm kind of late, sorry. This one's on me."

   Beth shook her head as Maggie thanked Glenn and touched his upper arm.

   "I always feel like a crappy porno's about to start whenever he stops by." Tara turned to whisper at Beth.

   She didn't even try to stop the cackle that flew past her lips at Tara's words. Glenn craned his head past Maggie to look for the source of the noise, and Maggie shot them a glare.

   "Fuck. Off." Maggie mouthed to them.

   Exchanging a glance, the girls decided to obey Maggie's orders and scurried into Tara's room. They both plopped face first onto the bed, lying side by side. Beth thought wistfully of her friends back home and how they used to do this same thing on her bed during sleepovers.

   "What's wrong?" Tara asked, concern heavy in her voice. Beth realized she must have let out a dejected sigh.

   "Just thinking about home," she shrugged. "I'm normally fine but when I think too much about the farm, that's when the homesickness hits hard."

   Tara slung an arm around Beth's shoulder. "You'll get used to it. You've already started making friends, and it's nice that you've got a little piece of family nearby. Plus," Tara poked Beth's ribs playfully, "you've already got that Daryl guy to help you get over Jimmy."

   A pang of guilt flew through Beth's mind as she realized that she'd barely even thought about her high school sweetheart since coming to Atlanta. Things had just been so busy and were only just beginning to settle. Not to mention Daryl, who'd been occupying more of her thoughts than she was willing to admit.

   "Oh no!" Beth groaned. "I just remembered that Jimmy called me a few days ago and I never got back to him."

   "Is it because of Daryl?" Tara laughed, clearly already knowing Beth's answer.

   Beth only groaned louder and hit her head against the mattress.

   "Geez, you've got it bad don't you? Be careful- freshman boys are hardly the kind to get invested in."

   "He's not a freshman, " Beth admitted, voice muffled by the comforter.

   "How old is he?"

   Beth didn't say anything or even move her head up off the bed. She heard Tara suck in a breath and then felt a painful tugging at her ear.

   "Ow, what the heck Tara!" Beth smacked the other girl's hand away and rubbed at her earlobe.

   "How old is he?" Tara asked again, looking more serious than Beth wanted.

   "Older..."

  "Out of college older?"

   Beth nodded nervously.

   "Beth, please tell me you're not the freshman girl who's boning her professor."

   "No!" She quickly assured. Running through her professors in her head, Beth shivered at the thought of sleeping with any of them. "He’s just some guy. I really did meet him at a bar.”

  Tara looked like she was going to continue scolding Beth, but she stopped herself, adopting a casual tone. "Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask you what bar you're hanging out at. I could use a new spot to go after work."

   "It's- hey!" Beth's eyes narrowed as she observed Tara's overly innocent expression. "I'm not an idiot Tara, and I'm not about to be the person who helps you bust the only place freshman can get served at."

   With an exaggerated roll of her eyes and a noise of annoyance that Beth couldn't even begin to describe, Tara rolled away from her on the bed.

   "Pizza's here!" Maggie knocked.

   "Wait," Beth hissed as Tara moved to get up. Tara gave her a wary look, but stayed still. "Please don't say anything to Maggie. I really, really like this guy and I don't want anyone messing it up for us."

   "Well I guess if you really _really_ like him."

   "I'm serious," Beth begged; the sarcastic tone that Tara was using made her nervous. "Just because I'm innocent or whatever, that doesn't mean I'm naive. I know what I see in him. Can you please just trust me?"

   Beth held her breath as Tara looked her up and down, eyes narrowed in thought.

   "Fine," she reluctantly agreed and walked out of the room before Beth could say another word.

   Rolling over so that she lay on her back, Beth let out the breath she'd been holding.

   "A band aid isn’t going to fix a bullet hole." Her father's voice scolded her, but she pushed it away quickly. Maybe that was true, but it could cover up the bleeding for a while.


	15. Chapter 15

   The cool night breeze felt amazing on Beth's face as she stepped outside of Maggie's apartment complex. Reaching her arms above her head, Beth stretched her back muscles and made a tiny noise of relief. She had given Maggie grief about her post-pivot exhaustion, but a few hours later and Beth was no better. The smart thing would be to go back to her dorm and crash but there was no way she was going to bail on Daryl.

   Hopefully bar seats turned out to magically be good for your back.

   Beth climbed into her car and sunk back into her seat with an 'oof'. The stiffness probably came from more than just the heavy lifting though. As soon as she had walked out of the bedroom, Tara had spent the rest of the day shooting her looks that ranged from nervous to disapproving. This had kept Beth in a constant state of tension, feeling sure that the other shoe was going to drop at any moment.

   She was starting to relax now though, knowing that she was about to see Daryl. Beth smiled to herself as she drove over to The Moonshine Shack, letting her brain run through all of her interactions with him so far.

   _You’ve got it bad._

   She really did...

   Parking down the street from the bar, Beth noticed that her junky car fit right in with the others around her. It made sense since the bar's patrons were either shady or college freshman. And the freshman probably just walked. At least she didn't have to worry about her car being broken into since it clearly belonged.

   "Hey, hey, hey!" Merle smirked at her as she walked up to the bar's doors. The way he looked her up and down freaked her out a bit, but Beth refused to show it. It definitely made her thankful that she was wearing jeans and a sweater tonight instead of a dress. Not that showing less skin stopped a guy from ogling you, but it made Beth feel more protected.

   "Hi Merle," she greeted cautiously. Beth wasn't sure what exactly he knew but if it was nothing then she wasn't about to be the one to spill the beans about her and Daryl.

   "Couldn't stand not seeing my brother for one night, huh. Date was just that good?"

   Okay, apparently he knew enough.

   "Daryl invited me to stop by so I figured why not." Beth cleared her throat awkwardly and had to actively stop herself from fidgeting.

  "He's such a gentleman." Merle continued to smile like he knew something she didn't, blocking the doorway.

   Beth tried to step around him but Merle mimicked her movements so that he continued to stand in front of her. Then, suddenly, his smile dropped and he wore an eerily serious expression.

   "My brother ain't got nothin' for you."

   "Huh?"

   "Whatever you want out of him, he ain't got it. Unless you're lookin' to piss off your mommy and daddy. If that's the case, go do it with some other asshole."

   Beth didn't even know what to say to him. Was he accusing her of having some sort of agenda with Daryl? The thought made her want to laugh but she was wary of how Merle might react to that.

   When she just stared back at him, he continued.

   "Daryl looks tough but he ain't, and I'm not about to have him getting screwed over by some little girl with a complex."

   "I'm not!" Beth defended once she found her voice. "You don't know the first thing about me. Or Daryl apparently, because that's bullshit if you think the only possible reason I could like him is because I want something from him."

   Merle held her gaze for a long moment, turning over her words. Then, just as suddenly as he had turned serious, a huge smile broke out onto Merle's face. Beth tried not to flinch at the mood swing.

   "You got me there, girl." Merle winked and motioned Beth towards the door. "He's inside."

   Beth walked through the entryway on autopilot and leaned back against the door as soon as it swung shut. What was that guy's deal, jumping all around the emotional spectrum like that? Was it just an older sibling thing? Beth could never imagine herself getting so worked up about Shawn or Maggie's significant others, but she wasn't so sure they would feel the same way about her.

   "So stupid," she mumbled and breathed in deeply to calm herself down.

   Letting her annoyance fade away, Beth pushed herself off the door and looked around for Daryl. He wasn't behind the bar, but Beth could see a doorway down the dark hallway swing shut. She moved to follow him, allowing her mind to wander towards stockroom hookups and muffled whispers.

   Until Abe stepped into her line of vision.

   "Where's Roseanne?" He demanded, not even looking at Beth, instead searching behind her for Rosita.

   "She couldn't come. And it's Rosita."

    Abe shrugged and walked away without another word. The men who worked at this bar were so weird.

   With her brewing mood killed, Beth slunk down onto one of the bar stools and waited for Daryl. Taking out her phone so she looked less lame sitting there alone, she sent a quick text to Shawn.

   'Your ID has been awesome! Sitting in a bar right now :0'

   "Hey," she looked up to see Daryl in front of her, a giant bottle of red wine in his hand.

   Beth smiled up at him. "Hi, someone's drinking wine in here?"

   "Yeah some girl wants red wine and coke mixed."

   "Ew, how did she even think of that?"

   "Who even knows what goes through the brain of a college kid. You're all supposed to be so smart right? Maybe she's onto something."

   "How can you work at a bar filled with college kids and think we're supposed to be smart?" Beth cracked up.

   As if to prove her point, a boy at one of the tables knocked over a beer glass and it shattered.

   "Fuck." Daryl muttered, shooting her an apologetic look. "Guess you got a point."

   He went off to clean up the spill and Beth giggled as she watched him scold the boy who'd done it. The kid only stared back at him with a blank look, obviously too drunk to care.

   Her phone buzzed and Shawn's response flashed up at her.

   'Ur welcome. Don't rat me out to mom and Hershel if you get arrested'

   Laughing out loud, Beth sent back,

   'Well I don't want you to die soooo'

   "What's so funny?" Daryl walked back to her.

   "Just texting my brother Shawn," Beth looked around to make sure there was no one in hearing distance then whispered, "He's the one who gave me my fake ID."

   Daryl laughed at her obvious fear of being overheard. "Sounds like a big brother thing to do."

   Beth's phone lit up again but she ignored it, she would just call Shawn later.

   "Ya know, we don't even have each other's numbers."

   "Are you askin' for my number?" He teased.

   "We're kind of doing this whole thing backwards, aren't we? First kissing, then a date, then exchanging numbers."

   "Seems to have worked out so far," Daryl shrugged.

   Pulling out an old flip phone, Daryl slid it across to her and grabbed hers from the bar.

   "Just type in your number," he said as he started putting his own into her phone.

   Beth navigated the chunky block in her hand slowly, trying to figure out how to type on the keys.

   "Ain't I supposed to be the one struggling with technology?" Daryl observed her with amusement after he'd finished with her phone.

   "This isn't even technology, this is prehistoric.”

   Daryl shook his head, a look of mock disgust on his face. "Just shut up and tell me what ya want to drink."

   "Orange juice, please! Virgin."

   Beth watched him bite back a smile as he went to pour her a glass. She wriggled in her seat, feeling inexplicably restless about the fact that she could say the word 'virgin' in front of him now and neither of them panicked. That was progress, right?

   "Why no alcohol?" Daryl asked as he placed the orange juice in front of Beth.

   "I drove tonight. Probably not good if I got pulled over while drinking and driving."

   "Underage," he added.

   Letting out a scoff, Beth glanced nervously at the girl sitting next to her.

   "You had better shush or you're gonna get this place shut down."

   "Can't have that, I'm a shit bartender. No one but Abe would hire me."

   "Just put me down as a reference and I'll give you rave reviews!"

   "That simple, huh?"

   "Mhm, put me down as more than one reference and I can just use different voices.”

   “Oh yeah?” Daryl cracked up. “Let me hear one.”

   Beth turned bright red, shaking her head no and looking again at the girl next to her.

   “I’ll give you free drinks for the rest of the night if ya do one.” Daryl tried to coax her.

   “I’m drinkin’ orange juice! I think I’ll be okay if I’ve gotta pay for it!”

   “That orange juice you’re drinkin’ is quality stuff, it’s $20 a glass. Could turn out to be an expensive night for ya.”

   “Are you… Threatening me?” Beth put her hand over her heart in disbelief. “Why Mr. Dixon, that is no way to treat a lady!”

   Daryl shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry but I don’t make the rules, I just gotta follow them.”

   Beth couldn’t hold back a laugh as she rolled her eyes at his overly innocent expression.

   “Fine, I guess I don’t have a choice then.” Taking a deep breath, she lowered her voice a few octaves. “Yes, Daryl Dixon is an exemplary employee. His boss may have been running a shady business but Dixon is a wonderful bartender. Best beer I’ve ever had, that man poured.”

   “You’re real cute, Blondie, but you’re a shit actress.”

   She and Daryl both jumped at Merle’s voice so close behind her.

   “Fuck, Merle.”

   “Scooch,” Merle demanded of the girl next to Beth. Her face turned indignant for a moment, until she recognized that he was the guy who had let her into the bar. Then she scurried away as quickly as possible.

   “Never gets old!” Merle snorted. “What?”

   Daryl and Beth just stared at him.

   “I don’t know what y’alls problem is. I needed a damn break. Abe’s at the door.”

   They both continued to stare.

   “He’s pretty pissed that you didn’t bring Roseanne with ya. Daryl, stop staring like a little bitch and gimme a water.”

   “Since when do you drink water?” Daryl scoffed.

   “I’m trying to be healthier now that I’ve gotta keep up with all these college girls.” Merle nudged Beth with his elbow. “Don’t you worry, I’ll get my brother to do the same.”

   “Thanks, Merle, I really appreciate that one.”

   “No problem, Blondie.” Merle patted her roughly on the back, spilling her orange juice all over the bar.

   “I’ll get it, I’ll get it!” He threw up his hands in surrender and got up to walk behind the bar. “No use cryin’ over spilled orange juice.”

   He burst out laughing at his own joke and Beth couldn’t help but shake her head and laugh too.

   “Don’t make him think he’s funny.” Daryl scolded quietly.

   Beth sucked in her lips to try and stop, but it only served to make her laugh harder.

   “Dammit Beth!”

   “Don’t worry, brother, I ain’t gonna steal your girl from ya. Part of the reason I came over here was ‘cause Abe and I were having a little chat about you two outside.”

   Daryl’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What exactly were you ‘chatting’ about?”

   “Abe was saying since Wednesday’s are always dead that you could have the night off. Take your girl out on date numero two.” Merle winked at Beth. “Date dos is always a good time to take things home.”

   “Oh!” Beth raised her eyebrows at Daryl seductively. “Taking things home… You know what that means?”

  Side-eying his brother, Daryl turned bright red. She was pretty sure that he gulped too.

   “What?”

   Putting on her best seductive voice, the one that she and her friends used to practice on each other in middle school, Beth replied.

   “Lord of the Rings marathon.”


	16. Chapter 16

   "No..."

   No, no, no, no, no!

   Beth slid off of Daryl's motorcycle the second he pulled into a parking spot. This was not happening!

   "No."

   "What?" Daryl looked her over, concern in his eyes.

   It had barely been a minute ago that Beth had been tucked against Daryl’s back, hair blowing in the wind. And now...

   "No." Beth shook her head, more to herself than him.

   "Hey," Daryl reached out for her hand. She took it, of course.

   "Please tell me this isn't your apartment!"

   He looked confused as his eyes darted between her and the building that he had parked in front of.

   "Uh... It is. It's a pretty nice one though," she could hear the defensive tone in his voice.

   Beth groaned. "I know it is! My sister lives in this building!"

   Daryl let out a long breath.

   "Shit."

   "Exactly."

   "No offense, but I ain't ready to meet your sister."

   "No offense, but I'm not ready for you to meet her either."

   Rubbing her temples roughly, Beth tried to think of the best plan of action. There was almost no chance that Maggie would be in the hallway at the same time as she and Daryl, but still. That was really the only place that they would run into her and Beth wasn’t willing to risk it.

   "Should we just run up the back stairs really quickly?"

   "Not sure what else we can do," he shrugged. "I'm not about to go back to your dorm room and havin' to take care of your friends all night."

   "Fair enough," Beth laughed. "Let's go."

   Both of their hands were full with the DVD and the snacks that Beth had insisted on buying, so running was out of the question. Instead they just shuffled along as quickly as they could manage, Beth looking around suspiciously ever few feet.

   She gasped when they turned the corner. There was Maggie, pushed against the back wall, her legs wrapped around a man who was presumably Shane. Lips fused together, he had one hand up against the wall and the other under her ass. _Her sister's ass._ Maggie moaned.

   Beth backed into Daryl, wide eyed, turning to face him with a silent scream. Shoving the bag of food she held into his hands, Beth went sprinting around the corner before he could even talk.

   "Gross. Gross, gross, gross." She exclaimed when he finally came around to the front of the building.

   "Maggie?"

   "Yes. Ew!"

   Daryl shook his head, laughing. "I really thought that her and that roommate of hers were lesbians, so I'm pretty surprised too."

   Beth couldn't hold back her laughter at that. "Maggie and Tara? God no! Unless Maggie's really good at hiding her feelings for women, 'cause she's always dating someone new. Plus Tara has a girlfriend."

   "Must be who's always fighting below us then."

   "You're the 'stoner dickwads' who live above them?!" Beth guffawed. She noticed Daryl's scoff at her words and quickly clarified, "Their words, not mine!"

   He just shook his head, a ghost of a smile still on his face. "Can we just go watch this damn movie? Three hours of my life I ain't never gonna get back."

   "The extended version is the best one!" She defended as they walked up the stairs.

   "It's just an extra hour I get to watch you drool over some other guy."

   Beth smirked, nudging him as he began to unlock his apartment door.

   "Jealous?"

   "Hardly."

   "I promise-"

   Beth stopped once she stepped into the apartment. The entire thing was spotless, not a stray dish or article of clothing lying around. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd expected but it wasn't this. Shawn and his roommate certainly didn't keep their apartment this clean.

   "I'm not likin' that shocked look." Daryl nudged her back.

   "I've just never seen a single guy's apartment look like this!"

   "Single, huh?"

   Beth went bright red and turned her face from him.

   "I just mean unmarried, or whatever."

   "Whoa, slow down! Marriage talk? It's too damn soon for that."

   "I never-!" She started to defend until she saw that he was laughing silently. "Jerk," she swatted his arm.

   "You know I'm just screwing with ya. The place was a shithole until I cleaned it this morning"

   Smiling and shaking her head, she plopped herself down onto the couch. It sunk under her weight, too low to really be comfortable. Judging from the ugly green material, the thing had to be at least twenty years old. Beth grabbed one of the pillows and placed it underneath her.

   "Sorry." Daryl looked sheepish as he sat down next to her. "Merle got this at a garage sale when we first moved in here. He passes out on it most nights, not sure how he hasn't broken his back yet."

   She scooted closer to him so that their thighs touched.

   "It's okay, I like it. The color is interesting."

   He rolled his eyes but Beth felt his body relax into the couch and she couldn't help but smile.

   "So Mr. Dixon, are you gonna start this movie or what?"

   With a groan of effort, Daryl pushed himself off of the couch. Beth didn't even try to hide the way she was watching him as he put the DVD in. She couldn’t help that he had a seriously nice butt that really should have been admired more often.

   It probably had something to do with the way her thigh muscles ached after ten minutes on his bike.

   "Wait!" She stopped him as he moved to sit back down next to her. "What about the snacks?"

  "Right, can't believe I almost forgot 'em."  

   Daryl tossed the two plastic bags they'd bought into her lap and plopped down next to her again. Excitedly ripping open her box of cookie dough bites, Beth held out the box to Daryl.

   "Hell no, I ate a box of those when I was eight and they made me sick. I haven't touched one since."

   "I really can't picture you as a kid."

   "Not much to picture," Daryl shrugged. "I was kinda a smart ass, but mostly just quiet. Definitely thought I was tougher than I was. Actually, the cookie dough things I got sick off of were stolen." He shook his head, laughing, more to himself than to her. "My buddy, Jace, and I snuck into our town's movie theater. Don't even know how he managed to get behind the counter and steal the candy. Jace was an impressive little shit, learned a lot from him."

   "What'd you see?"

   "Return of the Jedi."

   "Excuse me," she scoffed. "How can you make fun of me for loving Lord of the Rings but you _broke the law_ to see a Star Wars movie?"

   "Jace wouldn't shut up about that damn bikini that Leia wore so I had to! Plus, I've never paid to go see a movie in my life so it ain't like I was desperate to see it or something."

   "Mhm, sure."

   Daryl ignored her and went to turn on the TV. The thing actually wasn't half bad considering the other furniture in the house. There was a small scuff along the top right corner of the screen but it was still bigger, and sleeker than even the one that Beth's family owned.

   "Merle's a big movie buff so he bought this thing home one day. Abe gets him a shit load of bootleg DVDs from god knows where."

   She reached forward to pick one up from the coffee table. It wasn't a bootleg though, it looked brand new and touted 'NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE' in a bright orange sticker on the front.

   "Army of Darkness," Daryl explained. "It's Merle's favorite so he finally just decided to pay full price for a decent copy."

   "Does that guy have a chainsaw for an arm?" Beth scrunched up her nose as she examined the front cover.

   Daryl laughed at her expression.

   "Too much for ya?"

   "I've never really been one for gory movies. Helping birth cows and horses has always been more than enough gunk for me. At least that has a nice outcome in the end."

   Now it was Beth's turn to laugh at Daryl's expression.

   "How can you be a hunter and think that's gross?"

   "Blood is one thing, all that other stuff might just be too much for me. I ain't exactly got a paternal side."

   Beth just shook her head and leaned down to nestle it into his shoulder. He smelled good, like soap and the slight scent of burning wood. She didn't think he'd made any kind of fire today so was it just something ingrained on him from years of being out in the woods?

   "Just hush up and turn on the movie, Dixon."

   Daryl obliged and then put his arm around her shoulder as he sunk back into the couch. Something about the way that they'd become so comfortable with each other made her want to cry. She had known Jimmy her entire life, seen him naked years before they had even dated. And yet no matter how many times they had watched a movie alone together it had always started the same way: awkwardly spaced from each other on the couch, a fake yawn, the stiff arm around her, and then after a half hour or so they would finally relax.

   Why was the awkwardness with Daryl gone so quickly? They barely even know each other, yet for some reason Beth felt more at ease with him then she had ever felt with anyone. Laying with a guy on his couch wasn't exactly normal second date etiquette, at least not anything that she and her friends had experienced.

   Beth realized that she had absentmindedly begun to rub the front of Daryl's shirt in between her thumb and index finger. Quickly relaxing her fingers, she smoothed his shirt before dropping her hands back into her lap.

   Great, now she was getting anxious about how comfortable she was. Beth could practically hear Maggie teasing her for all of the overthinking she seemed to do.

   Beth felt her head bouncing up and down and realized that Daryl was laughing at something going on in the movie.

   "Are you laughing at this or with it?" Beth lifted her head up from his shoulder to stare at him intimidatingly.

   "With it," Daryl admitted reluctantly.

   "Good." She smiled as she placed her head back on his shoulder.

   "Okay, that's cool." He mumbled to himself as the Black Riders appeared on screen for the first time.

   Beth held back a giggle so he wouldn't feel embarrassed. It was sweet the way his eyes got so wide as he stared at the screen, maybe she could picture him as a little boy after all. Putting her hand back on his stomach, Beth began to play with his shirt again.

   That was when an oddly calming thought ran through her brain, one that should have been terrifying but wasn't.

   _I could fall in love with him._

* * *

 

   Her touch was light, gentle, but he'd been aware of it for the past hour. When the movie had first started Beth had simply fisted Daryl's shirt between her two fingers. That had been alright.

  Then she had begun to gently stroke her thumb against his stomach, completely absentmindedly, as she'd become more engrossed in the group's journey onscreen. Which had actually been pretty interesting, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

   The last thing he'd remembered was the Frodo guy putting on his ring to hide, like a little bitch. Now his vision kept blurring in and out as he tried to keep his breathing even.

   Beth gasped softly against him at whatever was happening in the film, her thumb digging into his stomach. The noise that came out of Daryl's throat was completely involuntary, but he felt her hand still.

   His attempts at breathing evenly worsened. Beth smiled against his chest and pushed into him again with her thumb. This time the noise from the back of his throat turned into a grunt.

   "Daryl," she giggled against him.

   "Mmm?"

   "How invested are you in this movie?"

   Daryl shook his head. "I stopped paying attention about thirty minutes ago."

   Beth lifted her head up so she could look at him. "Normally I would be insulted because this is a great film, but in this situation I can say that I get it."

   She let go of his shirt to let her fingers glance over the planes of his stomach lightly. The hair on his arms stood on end.

   "Oh yeah?"

   "Oh yeah."

   Without another word, Beth craned her neck up to close the gap between them. Missing his mouth slightly, he felt hers quirk up into a smile as it landed half on his lips, half on his cheek.

   "C'mere," he moved the hand that rested on her shoulder down to her lower back so he could pull her up slightly. "Better?"

   Holding her breath at their closeness, she simply smiled and nodded. Daryl felt his heart's tempo quicken at the knowledge that this girl looked at him, smiled at him, and looked so damn pleased about what she saw.

   When Beth once again brought their lips gently together, Daryl didn't hesitate. Cupping the back of her head with his palm, he tilted hers slightly so that he could angle in closer. She sighed softly against his lips as his fingers curled around a strand of her hair.

   Beth's tongue darted out to run along Daryl's bottom lip, her hand beginning to move up from his stomach. It glided up slowly and Daryl could tell that she was taking her time on purpose, feeling the slight planes of his abdominal muscles as she moved.

   When her hand finally moved up past his shoulders, up along his neck, to rest on his cheek, Daryl opened his mouth to give her better access. As their tongues slid together, tentatively at first and then, after a few moments, more sure, Daryl felt Beth's other hand move up to grip his shoulder.

   Daryl wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. He wanted to be as close to her as possible, to touch every piece of her that he possibly could. Beth seemed to agree because only a moment later she tightened her grip on his shoulder and hitched her leg over him.

   With a small squeak she sank onto his lap, and Daryl knew she had to have felt the bulge through his jeans. Those legging things that women wore all the time now didn't exactly leave much between them.

   Settling into him, Beth wrapped her arms around his neck. It only served to pull them closer together and Daryl could feel her slowly grind into his hips with her own.

   "Fuck," he breathed, grabbing her hips to hold them down.

   She pulled back to look at him, running her teeth over her bottom lip and letting out a self satisfied giggle.

   Daryl opened his mouth to hand out whatever snarky comment came to mind first, but Beth cut him off by reaching to twist the hem of his shirt around her finger.

   Which was probably a damn close representation of what was going on between the two of them.

   Beth pressed her lips back to Daryl, letting her tongue tease open his mouth immediately. As she explored the inside of his mouth, Beth unfurled his shirt. Smoothing the edges of it down, she moved her hand to the bottom button, letting it rest momentarily before undoing it.

   He felt his cock jump when her fingers grazed along his bare skin as she went to undo the next button. All he knew was that he needed to be as close to this girl as possible.

   Without overthinking it, Daryl rolled them over so that he laid over her. His knee pressed roughly between her legs, Beth quirked her eyebrow and wiggled into him with a laugh. She reached up and pulled him back over her so that he was just enough above her that she had access to his shirt’s buttons. When the last one was finally undone, he leaned down to balance himself over her and kiss her.

   It was surprisingly difficult to do while sober, when you didn't have a buzz that made you feel like you could do anything. But Beth seemed to want him as close as possible, fisting her hands in the collar of his shirt to tug him down.

   When he obliged, she let go of his shirt. To run her hands underneath it.

   Daryl didn't know how he could have been so stupid, but for these past few hours he had yet to think of his scars once. The constant thrum of awareness that existed over his back had been silent.

   Until she had brushed her fingers over the two thick, jagged bumps that ran across his lower back.

   Daryl had felt her pause, he felt the way she had glided her fingers back over it in innocent exploration. Maybe she would have just continued on, too in the moment to really think it through.

   Except Daryl had jumped. Shooting up onto his knees he had quickly moved to do back up the buttons on his shirt. Beth just laid still, hair mussed and a dazed look on her face.

   "What-" she pushed herself up onto her elbows, confusion in her eyes. He watched her process it though, as the fog slowly faded from her mind. Daryl wanted to stop her but it was too late. He had let his guard down. Beth let out a tiny gasp as she realized what it was that she had touched.

   "Oh."

   "I just don't want things to go too far tonight. Ya know, on a damn couch with some old wizard watching us." Daryl’s explanation sounded as rushed as it was; his voice shook over his words.

   Beth nodded slowly in understanding, rising up on her knees to meet him.

   "Okay," she kissed him softly before squeezing his hand in her own. "If you ever want to talk though..."

   "Yeah, I will." He answered her too gruffly as he avoided her gaze. Daryl could feel her eyes on him though, and he let it relax him.

   Beth tugged on his hand and situated them back into the way they had been before. Her head resting on his shoulder as they watched the film.

   "This is good anyway, we were going to miss the best parts." Beth affectionately bumped her nose into his shoulder.

   Laughing, Daryl sunk back down into the couch and slung his arm around her. His heart still raced from the feel of her fingers across his scars but he wasn't afraid. The girl who lay on him now had understood right away what had happened and she'd adapted to help him. Daryl might have been a damn emotional mess but he knew enough to realize that meant something.

   Against all of the signals going off in his brain telling him not to, Daryl let himself accept that Beth was going to be around for a while. It actually felt kind of nice.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope all of you had a good holiday! I had promised to have this updated yesterday but it was a pretty hectic day and I never got a chance to. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I knew they weren't going to be having sex quite yet and I'd originally planned to have Beth be the one to pull back. Until I realized that Daryl would be the more likely one to stop things between them from progressing too soon. For very different reasons, of course! I'm excited for the next chapter and it should be updated much sooner than this one was. Comments are always welcome!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took FOREVER to update. It's been a rough couple of weeks and things are only just starting to calm down. The next chapters of both Out Of The Woods and Stand Before me (my Team Delusional story) will be updated much quicker than these were. I also apologize for the strange formatting of the past few chapters, I've been flip flopping computers but as of now I'll just be using one. So no more formatting changes! Yay! Anyway, I hope you enjoy and comments are always appreciated!

* * *

 

   Beth was trying her hardest to think, she really was. It just wasn't something that came easily to her while pushed between Daryl Dixon and his front door.  

   "We need- we need to figure this out-" Beth managed to gasp out as his mouth trailed kisses along her jawline. 

   His hum of agreement against her skin sent a chill running down Beth's spine. She knew that an escape plan was necessary, unless she wanted to spend the night under the same roof as the Dixon brothers.  

   Although as long as Daryl was there it didn't sound too awful... 

   No. Beth had seen the way he had reacted to her touch on his skin earlier. There was no way he was ready for that, and truthfully she wasn't either.  

   That didn't mean she wanted this to end. Six hours of practically laying on his lap, doing nothing more than holding hands, and Beth was all for this tension alleviation. Her hand slowly feeling its way up his arm, Beth took his chin in her grasp and brought Daryl's lips back to her own. It was crazy to think that a few months ago she had been afraid that intimacy wasn't for her. All the kissing and the clammy touches that Beth had shared with Jimmy had left her feeling nothing. Maybe even a little uncomfortable. 

   That wasn't how it felt to kiss Daryl though. Being near him, touching him, sent her senses into overdrive. The way that his scruff scratched against her face, adding just the right amount of pain to the high of his mouth against hers. The way he tasted vaguely of mint and cigarette smoke. The warmth that radiated from his body whether they were out in the September chill or in his heated apartment.  

   Maybe they didn't need to stop, maybe she could spend the night, maybe she would stop thinking and just let herself regret however far they took things once the sun came up. 

   Of course, it was then that Daryl managed to tear his lips from hers. He  _really_ needed to stop doing that.  

   "Okay," he whispered against her mouth, clearly as out of breath as she was. "We need a game plan here."  

   Beth couldn't hold back the giggle that bubbled out of her mouth.  "How does it feel to be sneaking around like a teenager again?" 

   "I didn't even sneak around when I  _was_ a teenager; wasn't exactly from the kind of area where parents gave a damn about what you did. This is a whole new ballgame for me."  

   "Well I guess we're screwed then." 

   "Guess we are," Daryl pressed a quick kiss to her mouth before pushing himself away from the door. "Might as well use the front stairwell again. It's what, 2 AM?" They both craned their necks to get a glimpse of the microwave clock. "She probably took him up to her place hours ago." 

   "I hate you!" Beth made a gagging noise that only caused him to laugh. 

   Pushing him away in pretend anger, she opened his door. 

   "We can't be too quiet though, we don't wanna be able to hear them." Daryl teased her, returning her push as they began to walk down his hallway.  

   The place was eerily silent, even for this late at night. There was normally some sort of party going on, two or three on the weekends. Normally Beth would have jumped to a zombie apocalypse scenario in her head but all she could think about was getting out of here as soon as- 

   Rounding the corner of the second floor stairwell, Beth collided with a very tall, very solid mass.  

   "Oof," she gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.  

   "I'm so sorry!" The man began to apologize before a voice behind him interrupted. 

   "Beth?"  

   Maggie stepped around from behind the man, who she recognized as Shane, a shocked look on her face. Beth froze. 

   "What are you doing here?"  

   Beth didn't know what to say, feeling her panic rise as Maggie's eyes darted suspiciously between her and Daryl.  

   "I was looking for you!" Beth blurted out the first thing that came to her. "I just went to the wrong floor and he helped me." 

   It took everything she had to hold back a physical cringe at her words. That had to be the worst lie she had ever told, there was no way that her sister was going to buy it. Shane probably didn't, but it was hard to tell. His face was carefully blank as his eyes darted between Beth and Daryl, hand loosely rested upon Maggie's shoulder. 

   "You're a mess, Bethy," Maggie stepped forward to cup Beth's cheeks, a maternal look brewing in her eyes. "Did something happen-" Maggie's eyes drifted over to Daryl. Her disdain for him was apparent. 

   Out of her peripheral, Beth saw Daryl step forward to defend himself.  

   "With your boyfriend?" 

   Daryl hesitated, letting words halfway from his mouth fall away. 

   "He's not my boyfriend." Beth mumbled, feeling her face turning red. 

   "Whatever, that Daryl guy!" 

   There was a pause from Beth and Daryl as they waited for Maggie to put things together. It was practically impossible not to look behind her to check for Daryl's reaction. Did Maggie seriously not know her neighbor's name? Her expression remained fairly calm so apparently not.  

   Beth was just about to dare a glance back at Daryl when Maggie protectively put her arm around Beth's shoulder and began to drag her out of the stairwell into the hallway.    
   "This is why I told you not to date seniors! They're only after one thing. Oh, thanks," Maggie threw over her shoulder at Daryl. 

   Daryl just nodded back, wearing a look of horror that probably mirrored Beth's.  

   "I'm sorry," she mouthed to him as the heavy metal door swung shut behind them. Maggie continued talking rapidly as she guided Beth along. Beth couldn't hear a word her sister was saying though, not with the loud pounding of her heart in her ears.  

   That had been so close, too close. If they had been holding hands, or kissing, or anything at all, Maggie would have realized. A belief that her baby sister would never date the middle aged "druggies" above her would only go so far.  

   The knowing look that Shane gave her as their eyes met only served to worsen the roar in her brain.  

   "Sit," Maggie demanded once they were inside her apartment. She had a giant glass of water shoved into Beth's hand before her butt even hit the couch cushions. "Drink." 

   Beth obliged, chugging the entirety of the water glass. "Maggie, I'm fine. Really. I didn't realize that you were on a date so I'll just go home." She could feel her fingers twitch nervously as she lied and quickly balled them into fists. 

   "Absolutely not, Bethy! Shane was just walking me to my door to say good night."  

  Beth rolled her eyes, knowing what bullshit that was, but Maggie had already gotten up and walked over to the door with Shane. She watched them talk in muffled whispers for a few minutes, hearing the word 'jerk' come out of her sister's mouth more than once. Beth held her breath. Something told her that Shane understood more than she wanted, and what was to say he wouldn't spill it to Maggie?  

  Nothing in Maggie's demeanor seemed to change though, and finally the pair kissed goodbye. Beth sent up a quick, silent prayer that that was the end of it.  

   "Alright, now tell me what happened." Maggie plopped down next to her, tucking her knees under herself so that she faced Beth. 

   "Nothing! I just wanted to come see my sister, why are you giving me the third degree here?" 

  Maggie scoffed. "Maybe because it's 2 AM, you're all disheveled, and went to the wrong floor even though you've been to my place a dozen times before." Maggie's eyes suddenly glazed over, before she looked back at Beth and gasped. "It wasn't a fight, was it?!" 

   "I never said there was a fight in the first place." 

   "You were having  _sex_ with him?" 

   "No! Only you could jump to that conclusion so quickly, Maggie." She slumped back against the cushions and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "We were just kissing. I mean, heavy kissing, but just kissing. I just wanted to spend the night here because- well, because Rosita had a guy over again. That's all." 

   Maggie grimaced at Rosita's name and Beth felt a wave of guilt flow through her. She really was throwing Rosita under the bus a lot, at least in terms of lying to Maggie. Beth just felt completely in over her head. It was a surprise that she had yet to get one of the stress headaches that she was so prone to. 

   The buzzing of her phone made them jump. It was a text from Daryl. 

   'Everything ok?' 

   Beth smiled and fought her instinct to look up at the ceiling, like she would be able to see through it to him.  

   'It will be. You ok?' 

   She wondered if Daryl had been nervous. It wasn't like he was always as stoic as he pretended, but the man definitely wasn't easily shaken. Although Maggie had an uncanny ability to bring men to their knees, and not in a good way. 

   "What did he say?" Her sister leaned forward, craning her neck to try and see Beth's phone screen. 

   Beth reached out to swat Maggie's hand away, laughing.  

   "Maggie, if I promise to tell you in the morning can we please go to bed? I'm tired." 

   With an exaggerated sigh, Maggie pushed herself off of the couch and extended her hand out to Beth. "Yes, but just know I'm not too tired to give you a detailed play by play of my night with Shane." 

   "It'll be a nice bedtime story," Beth cracked up. "Or a naughty one." 

   Sticking her tongue out at Beth, her big sister walked away into the bathroom. Beth wasted no time in crawling under Maggie's comforter. She really had intended to listen to her sister's story but she didn't even hear Maggie come back into the room before she drifted off to sleep. 

   When she woke up to use the bathroom a few hours later, Beth was surprised to see that Daryl had never texted her back. Everything was probably fine, she told herself as she laid back in bed. He had probably just fallen asleep too.   
 

* * *

      
   Daryl didn't let himself relax until his door was shut and locked behind him. He wouldn't exactly say that he'd been nervous out in the hallway with Maggie. 'On edge' though? There was no denying that. 

   He was surprised the girl didn't put two and two together. She knew his name, at least she had. When Daryl and Merle had first moved into their apartment Maggie and her roommate had come to their door with a fucking plate of homemade cookies to greet them. Like this was Leave It To Beaver or something. 

   Throwing himself down on the couch, Daryl had to resist grabbing a beer as he felt his blood boil. He had made a point throughout his entire life to never drink when he was angry. Alcoholics did that. His father did that. And right now? He could feel the anger building. 

   Maggie and her roommate hadn't even found his name worth remembering. Seeing him and Beth together, knowing she was seeing a guy named Daryl, that hadn't even jogged it. Why? Because Daryl wasn't good enough for Beth and anyone who saw them together would know it. If they even managed to believe that they were a couple. Which Daryl knew they fucking wouldn't. 

   He hardly believed it. They weren't even really a couple, and it was pathetic of him to use that word. Once she figured out that he was really just a loser, not some rough around the edges guy with a heart of gold, she would drop him. The thought of losing her shouldn't have scared Daryl, he barely knew her, but it did.  

   With a grunt, Daryl closed his eyes. This mood swing was gonna give him whiplash. How was it only minutes ago that he had been happy with Beth and now he was here? What he needed was sleep. 

   Except as soon as he closed his eyes there was a knock on the door. 

   "Beth, what're you-" Daryl swung the door open but stopped short when he saw who was on the other side. 

   Shane. 

   "Uh, I mean..." He couldn't think of a good cover up so he just let his words drift away. "What do you want?" His voice was gruff as he questioned Shane, but he didn't care. He was already in a bad mood and the looks Shane had been giving him downstairs had pissed him off. 

   "Daryl, right? You bartend at The Moonshine Shack?" 

   "Yeah..." Daryl narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had never seen Shane there before, and Daryl wasn't one to forget a face. So Daryl had zero ideas about how Shane might know that he worked there. 

   "I'm a friend of Abe's," Shane explained. "Been inside the bar a few times but we've never spoken." 

   There was a click of recognition in Daryl's brain as he took in Shane's words. The few times that Shane had been in the bar he had walked straight to Abe. No conversing with anyone, no drinking, just a whispered conversation with Daryl's boss before leaving. Daryl had figured out what was going on long ago,  _observant_ , and knew that it was none of his business. So he'd made sure not to pay attention to it. That was why he hadn't remembered Shane's face, because he had made a point not to. 

   Because Shane was the reason that no one ever busted the bar for underage drinking. At least, that was what Daryl figured. There was always a quick exchange of  _something_ between Shane and Abe on his visits. It was either money or drugs, and examining Shane closely now Daryl knew it wasn't the latter. 

   "Beth wasn't here lookin' for Maggie." Shane stated the obvious. Daryl just stared. "Where'd you meet her? The bar? Here?" 

   "That ain't remotely your business," Daryl hoped his voice held enough force to make Shane back off. 

   The cop wasn't deterred though. It shouldn't have surprised Daryl, Shane hardly looked like the kind of guy who shied away from a fight. "It's my business if your fucking Maggie's sister. How old are you even? Pretty low that you've gotta go looking for teenagers to get some." 

   "You don't know shit about it," Daryl growled. "And you ain't got any room to talk since you're doing the same thing." 

   The snort that Shane let out had Daryl clenching his fists at his sides. Something about this guy just rubbed him the wrong way but he didn't want to do anything drastic. All he wanted was to find a way to make Shane keep his mouth shut and leave him alone. 

   "Maggie's a whole different species from her little sister. That girl's got virginal princess written all over her. We both know that Maggie won't be taking kindly to all this when she finds out."  

   Daryl took a step closer to Shane, flexing his fists again. 

   "You ain't gonna tell her shit. Unless you want her to dump your ass when she finds out that you're not some nice guy, but a shithead who takes bribes so that he'll turn his head." Daryl felt a wave of satisfaction to see Shane's jaw clench in surprise at Daryl's words. Guess the guy thought he was smoother than he was. "I don't know much about Maggie, but I get the feeling the Greene girls aren't the type to be down for a dirty cop." 

   Shane narrowed his eyes angrily. "You don't have proof of anything. And Maggie would never take your word over mine." 

   "Guess we'll have to find out when we tell her then," he threatened. 

   Shane was silent for a moment, searching Daryl's face to see if he was lying. After a moment he simply muttered "creep", and walked down the hall.   
   Shutting the door, Daryl waited for the sense of relief to hit him.  He'd apparently gotten Shane to step down so there was nothing to worry about. But for some reason he couldn't shake the darkness that hung over him. 

   Shane was right though, and Daryl knew it. It was only a matter of time. Until Maggie found out, until she told her family, until Beth woke up, until this all blew up in his face. It was only a matter of time. 

   He grabbed his phone to shoot Beth a quick text. There weren't any loud noises coming from below she obviously Maggie had yet to put two and two together. Her response came back almost immediately. 

   'It will be. You ok?' 

   Shutting off his phone, Daryl chose to ignore the question. He honestly didn't know. 


	18. Chapter 18

    Beth couldn't stop her pacing. Back and forth, over and over, her steps in synch with the pounding of her heart. She didn't even know why she was panicking. Just because she hadn't heard from Daryl since the previous night? That didn't mean anything. It was only two in the afternoon. He was probably just asleep still.  
  
   Merle would have gotten home from the bar pretty late. Maybe he had woken his brother up to find out what had happened with his date and now Daryl was simply catching up on sleep. What she needed to be doing was calling Daryl. What she _didn’t_ need to be doing was pacing back and forth outside of his apartment door while Maggie and Tara thought she was picking up Indian food.  
    
 Something just felt off to her. He hadn't even bothered to respond to her inquiries into how he was last night with a short 'fine'. That was Jimmy had always done. Whether he was mad, upset, or completely alright- 'fine' was his go to answer. Beth was aware that Daryl was entirely new territory but he still owed her a response. Even if he had panicked about seeing Maggie last night.   
  
  Letting her annoyance build, Beth pounded on the Dixon brothers' door harder than necessary. It took a moment but eventually Merle answered the door, in his underwear, with a pissed off, "WHAT?"  
     
   With a steadying breath, Beth calmed herself. This was just Merle Dixon. Sure he looked scary but she had already traded banter with him before. She could handle it. The fact that he was now yelling at her in his underwear was no big deal.  
   
   "Good afternoon to you too," Beth's shot back. Her voice barely even wavered. "I'm looking for Daryl."  
    
   "He ain't here." Merle's expression seemed to relax as he registered who was standing in front of him. "Thought he was with you. Come in."  
   
   Beth hesitated for a moment before stepping around him to get inside. "I can't stay long, I just hadn't heard from Daryl."  
    
   "Damn," Merle snorted. "Darylina's bailing on ya already? Would've bet my left nut you'd last longer than this."  
    
   "He's not- wait," Beth narrowed her eyes. "Is he known for bailing on the girls he's seeing?"  
    
   The scent of liquor hung heavy in the air around Merle. She fought not to wrinkle her nose in disgust.   
  
   "Daryl ain't one for a lady's love, sweetheart. Used to think he was a fairy before he started bringing girls home once in a blue moon. Man just had to find his footing, I guess. They don't stick around though. Just wait around to see if he comes back."  
   
  Merle began to cackle and Beth couldn't help but cross her arms protectively in front of her body. Not even waiting for any response from her, he was back on the couch and snoring in no time. Beth was unsure of what to do. Maybe he really was in his room and Merle was mistaken? She knew that she shouldn't go snooping. Except Merle had invited her in and then just passed out, so really wasn't that a go ahead?   
  
   As quietly as possible, Beth tiptoed over to Daryl's bedroom door. Peaking her head inside she couldn't help feeling disappointed to see that it was empty. There were so many clothes piled onto his bed that there was no way anyone could be underneath them.  
    
   What it looked like was someone had packed up and left in a hurry. Afraid to think too much about it, Beth turned and fled from the apartment building as quickly as she could. 

*******

   Maggie was going to worry about her, Beth knew that. She sent a quick text to her sister as she walked back to her dorm.  
   
  'My friend Hayley called with a crisis. Had to go, sorry! Left your car keys in mailbox.'  
  
   There was no way she could avoid a pissed off response from her sister, so Beth simply turned off her phone. Not before calling Daryl though.   
  
   Straight to voicemail.   
    
 "Crap!" She kicked a pebbled in frustration, but it only bounced off a bench and dinged her in the shin.  
  
   The night had gone so well! Overall, at least. There was the incident with the bumps on his back and then what had happened with Maggie. They were pretty big things, well the scars were, but were they really enough to cause him to bail?   
   
   _The scars_... Beth flexed her fingers as she remembered the feel of them underneath her fingertips. It had only taken her a moment to realize what they were. Beth wasn't an idiot. Between his reaction and the little bit she knew of his past, Beth had figured it out pretty quickly.   
  
   If this was the end of whatever was happening with Daryl then she'd never stop kicking herself over her reaction. Beth had thought that taking his lead and allowing him to change the subject had been the way to go. It was a second date and they barely knew each other. She hadn't wanted to overstep her boundaries.   
  
   But maybe that had only made him feel like crap about it. Had Daryl taken that as a rejection? If he had then that was,  
    
   "Bullshit!"

   Beth realized that she'd spoken the word aloud when a woman across the street shot her a dirty look. 

   Cheeks red, Beth rounded the final corner to her building. She didn't even bother to flash her ID at the bored looking woman that ran the front desk. It wasn't like she didn't recognize her. 

  When Beth finally burst into her room she was conflicted to see both Hayley and Rosita. On one hand, she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. On the other hand, she really didn't want to be alone with her thoughts.

   Plus they had to have _some_ advice for her.  
   
  "What's wrong?" Rosita shot up from the bed the second she saw how flustered Beth was. Hayley looked equally worried about her friend.  
   
  Without hesitation, Beth launched into describing the events of the previous night and her encounter with Merle this morning.  
  
   "The same building?"  
   "Lord of the Rings?"  
  
   Rosita and Hayley spoke in unison.  
  
   Nodding, Beth buried her face into Rosita's pillows and let out a long groan. "I just don't know what to do! Should I try calling him again? Or stop by the bar and see if he's there?"  
  
   "No!"   
  
   Her friends shouts, in unison once again, almost made Beth smile.   
    
 "Why not? I need to find where he is."  
  
   "Do NOT call that man. And definitely don't try to track him down!" Hayley's eyes were wide as she tried to convey the seriousness of her words to Beth.  
  
   "But why?"   
  
   Rosita gave her a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He turned his phone off, so you blowing up his phone is gonna make you look so clingy. You already know why tracking him down at work would be a mistake. Screw that guy! His brother knows him better than anyone so if he says Daryl's blowing you off then he is-"  
  
   "You do NOT need some jerk in your life who doesn't care about you."  
    
 "No, I really think he does!"  
  
   The look that passed between Rosita and Hayley wasn't lost on Beth. Tears began to well up in her eyes.  
  
   "Now I'm really glad that I kept this from Maggie because she would be saying 'I told you so' right about now."  
  
   "Here," Hayley stood and patted the spot on Rosita's bed where she had just been. "I've gotta go because I'm meeting Noah for lunch. Want me to bring you back anything?"   
   
  Beth laid down next to Rosita, who immediately started stroking her hair.   
   
  "You know she's going to ask for coffee," Rosita cracked as she tugged at a lock of Beth's hair that she had been twisting around.  
   
  Beth laughed as she smacked Rosita's stomach lightly, but then added, "I _was_ going to ask for a coffee though..."  
  
   Jumping back on the bed, Hayley quickly wrapped Beth up in a crushing hug. "Guys suck," she stated matter-of-factly as she left the room.   
   
  "Hayley isn't right about much, but she's right about that. Guys do suck," Rosita continued to comfort her. "Tonight we're going to go out and flirt with some super hot guys. Daryl will be the last thing from your mind."  
  
   "No," Beth shot up. "I know it's dumb of me but I'm not going to go out and find some other random guy. We really don't know where he is. What if he's hurt, or-"  
  
   "Lying dead in a ditch somewhere?" Rosita cut her off. "You know he's not, Beth. I'm not asking you to actually do anything with another guy. But I do think it would be good for you to go out and flirt. Maybe this Daryl guy wasn't such a cool, fun idea after all. I mean, you're a freshman. You're supposed to be going out and having fun. Not getting all worked up over some middle aged dude."  
  
   "Hayley gets worked up about Zach on an hourly basis!" Beth defended.  
  
   "Because he's a hot college guy," Rosita pushed Beth's head down onto the pillow so that she could start braiding her hair. "Let's just try it tonight and then see if Daryl calls you tomorrow."  
   
  "Fine," Beth sighed irritably. "But I'm not going to do anything with-"  
  
   "Hey!" Zach, almost as if he had sensed his name being spoken, poked his head into their room. "There's someone out by the front desk looking for you."  
  
   "Who?!" Beth shot up, heart suddenly racing.   
  
   Zach only shrugged. "No idea, I ran into What's-Her-Face from up front as she was coming to find you. Told her I'd tell you."  
  
   "It might be Daryl!"   
   
   Rosita caught her eye as she left the room, a huge smile lighting up her face.   
     
   She _knew_ that she had been panicking for nothing. Merle had no idea where Daryl actually was, claiming he was going to ditch Beth had only been a guess. Even if Daryl had done that to girls in the past... He wouldn't with her. He just wouldn't.  
   
   What had probably happened was that his phone had died or something. Daryl was here to tell her he was sorry for ignoring her, but he just hadn't realized that his phone wasn't working.    
    
   Except he wasn't.  
    
   Instead, Tara stood in the dorm's common area, her pace mirroring Beth's from this morning. As soon as she spotted Beth she rushed over to her, eyes wide.  
    
  "How the HELL did you even meet him?" Tara demanded, her voice a hysterical shriek.  
    
   Beth gulped. "Who?"  
    
   "You know who! Daryl! The guy from upstairs!"  
  
   Beth felt her heart sink. "How did you find out?"  
    
   "Maggie told me about your 'fight' with your boyfriend and going to the wrong floor. It didn't take a genius to put it together!"  
  
   "So Maggie knows?"  
  
   "No," Tara blew out a puff of air that ruffled a strand of hair that had fallen in her face. "Luckily it hasn't clicked for her yet. But it will! What were you even thinking, Beth?"  
    
   Pushing away her nagging doubts about Daryl, Beth leapt to defend him. "I was thinking that he's kind, and good. Maybe a little rough around the edges but who isn't!"  
  
   "How can you possibly be so naive Beth? You were the one who begged me to trust you... For this? A lazy, drug addict, _degenerate_."  
   
   "Ugh, you sound like a cop," Beth fought back a gag. "I'm telling you- he's not like that. His brother is, sure, but Daryl's not. _Trust me_."  
  
   "I did!"   
  
   "Well what's changed?"  
  
   "What's changed is that I know who the guy you're seeing is now and you're being played."  
  
   "You don't know that!"  
  
   "I do!"  
  
   "No you don't!"  
  
   "I do!"  
  
   "Ladies!" The woman behind the front desk interrupted. "You need to keep it down."  
  
   "Sorry," Beth responded sheepishly. Her cheeks, already scarlet from anger, deepened in color at being scolded. "Tara, please, you don't know him. You just don't."  
    
   Tara's eyes bore into Beth's. Her friend obviously wasn't sure what to do next. Finally, she let out another puff of air.  
  
   "It's a mistake. He's a mistake. I'm telling you."  
   
   Beth's eyes welled up with tears as she watched all her potential with Daryl flash before her eyes. She was so unsure about what was next for them and Maggie discovering them was only going to kill things.  
    
   "But it's your mistake to make, I guess."  
     
   Beth's breath caught in her throat at Tara's words. "So you won't say anything?"  
   "I remember being a freshman. You think you've got it all figured out, and no one can tell you otherwise. Plus I've seen enough movies to know that telling you not to see him will only drive you further into his arms." Beth couldn't help but laugh at Tara's choice of words. "Just... Be careful, okay? And if you ever need me, you know where to find me."  
   
  "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Beth leapt forward to wrap her arms around Tara, ignoring the dorm matron's shushing this time.   
   
  "Please tell Maggie soon though. You know how I feel about secrets!"  
   
  "'Secrets are for the hot chicks on Pretty Little Liars.'" Beth recited with a giggle.   
  
   "Exactly," Tara reached out to squeeze Beth's hand. "By the way, are you okay? You just bailed today and turned off your phone. Maggie and I were worried."  
   
  "I'm fine," she lied, the fakeness of her smile not lost on Tara. "Just really tired."  
    
   "Mhm," Tara looked her up and down suspiciously. "Well call me if you want to talk."  
    
   "Promise."  
  
   "Alright I've gotta go. Alisha thinks I just ran in here to give you back some chapstick."  
    
  "That's a horrible excuse. Alisha bought that?"   
     
   Tara chuckled. "I wouldn't question whatever way I got out of revealing your secret."   
     
   "True," Beth's laugh mirrored Tara's. "Well, thank you, Tara. I mean it."  
    
   With a forced smile, Tara nodded as she left. Beth let out a long sigh. If Rosita really was going to force her to go out tonight then she was going to need a nap first. It wasn't even three o'clock and Beth felt exhausted.   
     
   Today just wasn't her day though and before she'd even made it two feet she was face to face with Ben.  
    
   "Hey there," the boy's knowing smirk made her blood burn.  
    
   "Fuck off," she said through gritted teeth.  
    
   "Interesting conversation," Ben motioned to where Beth and Tara had just been.   
    
   "It's none of your business."  
     
   "Then why are you yelling about it in public?"   
    
   Beth didn't even bother to respond. Pushing him out of the way, she stalked off down her hallway.  
    
   "Nice talking to you, babe. Call me when you and that guy officially don't work out. I'd love to-"  
     
   Beth slammed her door shut behind her, cutting Ben's retort off.   
     
   "What happened?" Rosita had sat up in anticipation as soon as the door opened.  
     
   Beth burst into tears.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Beth's not having a good chapter, is she?! One crappy thing happened and then the rest just piled up along with it. That's how it always goes though, and I promise things will get better!  
> Not sure that Hayley and Rosita's advice was the best, but it's pretty fitting for two inexperienced 18 year olds.  
> Oh boy I just realized that Beth's having a really crappy time in both my stories! Kinda feel bad now that I'm torturing her in two separate universes.


	19. Chapter 19

   Dropping his bag down roughly, Daryl plopped into one of Waffle Haven's few empty booths. He hadn't seen Carol when walking in, but barely a second after his ass touched the cracked leather seat she was standing over him with a pot of coffee.  
    
   "You look like you need this."  
  
   "'Cause I do."  
  
   "And no offense, but you smell like you need a shower."  
  
   "Well that's probably 'cause I do too."  
  
   Carol poured his coffee and then stared silently at him for a moment, waiting. When he didn't say anything, purposefully avoiding her gaze, she shrugged and left him alone.   
  
   The smart thing would have been to head home, shower, and sleep. But Merle was probably still there and Daryl wasn't up for his crude inquiries. Not to mention all the talk about how Abe was going to kill him for bailing on work with no notice. He'd just needed to get away after what happened with Shane.  
  
   Because Shane was right about one thing: Maggie was going to flip when she found out about him. Maybe if he'd just been some random, older guy it would have been okay. With her already knowing him, though? Knowing him and having formed her opinion on him long before he even met Beth?   
  
   Yeah, it was worse than he thought.  
  
   A part of him had wanted to bail. He was ashamed to admit it, but he had. Daryl had figured that if he just got out now the collateral damage to everyone involved wouldn't be so severe.   
  
   That had changed after a night in the woods. Tracking and hunting, freezing his ass off as he slept under the stars. All he had really wanted was to turn off his phone and just _get away_. It hadn’t gone down that way though. Instead of leaving all of this shit behind, Daryl just spent the entire time thinking about Beth. The pathetic truth was, he had missed her. Even just being away from her for twenty four hours. That had settled it for him, once and for all.  He wanted to be with her and there was no going back for him.  
  
   Hopefully she felt the same. He was almost sure she did. Fuck, it really hadn't taken him long to get crazy over this girl.  
  
   He heard Carol walking over, saw her out of his peripheral vision, but was surprised when she was suddenly sliding into the booth next to him.

  
   "Alright spill," she demanded as she took off her apron.  
  
   "Ain't nothing to spill."  
  
   "That's a lie. If you're gonna be so insistent on keeping people out then you really need to get better at hiding your emotions."  
  
   "Oh yeah, like the way you’re good at hiding things?"  
   
   Carol shifted uncomfortably but refused to back down. "Yes, like me." Her voice was firm and Daryl felt too tired to argue.   
  
   "Someone found out about us," he admitted.  
  
   "Who?" Carol gasped, mouth hanging open.  
  
   "Her sister's boyfriend. Threatened to tell her, said I wasn't good enough for Beth."  
  
   "Oh, Daryl," she reached out to grasp his hand, but hesitated at the last moment. Dropping her hands back down to her sides, Carol continued. "I don't know much about you, but what I do has been kind. With Ed... I've gotten good at reading people. Trust me, you're good. Good enough for that girl."  
  
   Daryl let out an annoyed snort. "You're the one who said she was probably too mature for me."  
  
   "And I stand by that statement. Doesn’t mean you’re not good for her. What did this guy say to you exactly?"  
  
   He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee.  
  
   "Okay. Well, what did you say to Beth about it?"  
  
   "Haven't talked to her. Went out hunting."  
  
   "So she has no idea that someone knows?"  
  
   Once again, Daryl shrugged in response.  
  
   "Have you even talked to her since this guy confronted you?"  
  
   "No."  
   
   "What the hell, Daryl!"  
  
   "I needed time to think," he defended.  
  
   "Jesus, you need to go find her. How long has it been?"  
  
   "I'unno. A bit over a day."  
  
   "You haven't spoken to her for over a day?"  
  
   "No. Who cares?"  
  
   Carol just blinked at him in disbelief. "Coffee's on me. You need to go."

   “I ain’t going anywhere.”

   “Out. Now.”  
  
   Normally, Daryl wouldn't be the kind of person who took to being told what to do. Right now? He was too tired to care. Even if Merle was still home he'd just lock himself in his room and sleep. He'd call Beth when he woke up. Carol had no idea what she was talking about. The lady had no business handing out relationship advice to anyone.   
  
   The fact that the thought of calling Beth made his throat constrict in panic was just something to be ignored. 

*******

   He woke up a few hours later to a pounding on his door. Assuming Merle had locked himself out again, Daryl took his sweet time dragging himself out of bed to open it. This only made the person on the other side hit the door louder until Daryl was pretty sure they were just full on kicking the door.  
  
   "Relax, would ya!"  
  
   Thrusting the door open in irritation, Daryl's heart practically stopped when he saw Beth standing on the other side. She didn't look any happier to see him.   
  
   "You're here... You're- you were sleeping. Ha!" Daryl cringed at her panicked laugh. "Well now I just feel stupid. Sorry for bothering you." Jaw tight, Beth turned to leave.  
  
   "Whoa, hey," he reached out to grasp her arm before she could leave. "You're not- I wasn't- well, I was sleeping but you weren't bothering me."  
    
    Beth whirled around on him, ripping her arm from his grip, face angry. "I didn't mean right now. I meant in general! Jesus, Daryl, I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to let you play me. I haven't heard from you at all for almost two days! Merle said you probably bailed-"  
  
   "Merle said what?"  
  
   "I came by yesterday morning to see if you were okay and you were just gone. Merle said you never stuck with girls for long so I should just cut my losses."  
  
   Daryl stared at her, mouth agape. "No, I- I went hunting. I just had a lot on my mind and I needed to get away for a day."  
  
   The way Beth's hands went to her hips reminded him shockingly of his mother. Daryl had to fight back a laugh. He didn't know much about women but he was sure she wouldn't take too kindly to that.   
  
   "You didn't think that I deserved a text or a call or _something_?"  
  
   Daryl didn't know what to say. When he had left, he had only been thinking of himself. The sudden claustrophobia of the city and everyone in it. Beth hadn't even crossed his mind. Looking back, he realized how shitty that was of him. He couldn't figure out what had made him think that was a good idea.  
  
   "I'm sorry," was all he could say. There was no trace of defensiveness in his voice. Daryl wasn't sure he would ever get over the way he seemed to react to Beth. Maybe after a few years with her.  
  
   _No, don’t be stupid_. With the way she was looking at him now, with such hurt and insecurity. Daryl wasn't sure there would be a couple of hours, let alone a couple of years.  
  
   Squeezing her eyes shut, Beth pinched her nose and sighed exasperatedly. "I was freaking out, Daryl. I don't know what we are to each other and after what Merle said..."  
  
   "Well, aren't we dating? Ya know, boyfriend and girlfriend…" Daryl cringed at his choice of words. He sounded like a teenager. Except he hadn't even done this as a teenager. In fact, he'd never in his life done this.   
  
   Beth looked unimpressed. "Not if you're just going to run away every time it gets hard. I'm not going to sign up for that."  
  
   "Listen, can you come in and sit down?" He moved out of the doorway so that she could get through.  
  
   It took her a moment, her eyes wary as they jumped from his couch to him. Finally she obliged, moving inside to sit on the couch. Daryl had to physically stop himself from gulping at her guarded expression and crossed arms. The logical thing to do would have been to sit down next to her. But if Daryl was afraid of anything in his life, it was the wrath of women. He settled for pacing back and forth in front of her instead.   
  
   "I'm sorry about what I did, Beth. I just- this is all new to me. I don't know what I'm doing. And I've never bothered to consider anyone besides Merle and I before you came along. It's gonna take getting used to and I've gotta learn from my screw ups. Bailing on you was a shit thing to do. I- I fucked up. I can't say it enough. I won’t do something like that again."   
  
   Beth didn't respond, she simply stared at him for what felt like hours. The girl would be a shit poker player because she was awful at hiding her emotions. Her expressions going from anger, to confusion, to her eyes drifting past him, deep in thought. Finally she smiled up at him reluctantly, rolling her eyes.  
  
   "I guess that's a good thing seeing as we're boyfriend and girlfriend now."  
  
   Daryl laughed. "Oh yeah?"  
  
   "I guess so," Beth shrugged nonchalantly. Only the small smile lighting up her face gave her away.   
  
   "Feel pretty damn stupid right now," he admitted.  
  
   "Using the term 'boyfriend'? Yeah, you're real dumb," she teased, patting the spot next to her. "Sit down."  
  
   Daryl didn't hesitate to do so. Beth scooted towards him on the couch. Her feet tucked underneath his leg, she rested her elbows on her knees and fixed him with a steady gaze.  
  
   "So," she inquired. "What the heck happened the other night?"  
  
   "Shane knows." Daryl admitted reluctantly. Beth cringed.  
  
   "How?"   
  
   "Figured it out. He's a cop so I'm sure he's gotta be observant."   
  
   "Tara, Maggie's roommate, knows too."  
  
   "Fuck."  
  
   "Yeah..."  
  
   It was shocking that Maggie hadn't figured things out yet. Daryl tried not to overthink why. It'd only make him feel like shit.  
  
   "It's your choice, Beth, but I'm thinkin' we should tell her. It'd be better than her figuring out on her own. Maybe."  
  
   Beth laughed then leaned forward to press a soft kiss to his lips. It felt good after two days of not seeing her. After two days of trying to convince himself he shouldn't ever touch her again.   
  
   She seemed to share the same sentiment, a soft hum of contentment passing from her mouth to his.   
  
   "Alright," Beth pulled her lips away from his but kept her face inches from his own. A wide grin lit up her face, the whiteness of her teeth a stark contrast to the pale pink of her lips. "Now that we've officially had the 'going steady' conversation we might as well go tell Maggie."  
  
   "Now?!" Daryl pulled back quickly from Beth. She laughed, lunging forward to press another quick kiss against his lips before continuing.  
  
   "She's right downstairs. It's as bad of a time as ever."  
  
   "'As bad of a time as ever'. Yeah that's inspiring. Shit."  
  
   "Daryl Dixon, I'm on a high from the simple fact that you called me your girlfriend. It may be lame but it's the truth. So I vote we go downstairs and ruin that high by getting screamed at by my big sister." Her voice was obnoxiously perky, like she didn't have a care in the world. For his part, Daryl felt like he was gonna blow chunks.  
  
   "Shit," he shook his head at the little giggle that escaped from Beth’s lips. "As bad a time as any?"   
  
   "As bad a time as any."  
  
   Beth pushed herself up from the couch. Extending her hand out to Daryl, he took it and allowed her to force him up. As they walked towards the doorway Beth teased him.  
  
   "I really didn't see you being scared of anything. This is kind of fun!"  
  
   "Yeah, well, wait until I meet your father. Does he have a shotgun?"  
  
   "He sure does."  
  
   "Fuck."


	20. Chapter 20

   Maggie looked confused as the perky "Hey!" fell away from her lips. Beth realized she was holding her breath as her sister faltered, eyes drifting from Beth, to Daryl, and finally landing on their interlaced hands.

   "WHAT THE FUCK!"

   Her sister’s scream was so loud that Beth heard a doorway down the hall open. She ignored it, cheeks already flaring with color, and refused to look away from Maggie.

   "Hi, Maggie," she tried to sound confident but the words came out in a jumble.

   Maggie said nothing. Beth could almost see her brain working out the past few weeks. Trying to reconcile the things her sister had told her about the boy she was seeing with the gruff looking man who stood in front of her now.

   "You- I- You!" Maggie's gaze turned accusingly towards Daryl. Her finger jabbed at his chest for emphasis. She seemed at a loss for words, settling for simply gaping at the two of them.

   "I just-!" Maggie stepped back and raised her fist threateningly. For a brief moment Beth feared that Maggie was going to strike Daryl. Instead, the door slammed shut in their face.

   Both of them simply stood in the heavy silence for a moment. Until suddenly, Daryl covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

   “That was fast,” he quipped.

   Beth glared at him. "It's not funny!" But the small smile that played at the corners of her lips gave her away.

   Suddenly they both had their palms shoved in front of their faces to quiet the sound of their laughter. Beth really hoped that Maggie couldn't hear them, it would only worsen the situation.

   "Alright," Daryl finally said. "What now?"

   Beth breathed in deeply to calm herself and interlaced her fingers with Daryl's again. "We can't just go back up to your apartment. We need to talk to her."

   Daryl considered her words. "We could always break in. I'm pretty good about picking locks."

   She had to bite down roughly on her lip to keep from laughing again. "That would really help our case. 'Hey Maggie, I know you hate my boyfriend but look at his amazing breaking and entering skills.'"

   "It'd win me over," Daryl shrugged.

   Suddenly Beth felt an overwhelming sense of affection for the man standing in front of her. Sending up a quick prayer that Maggie didn't choose this moment to open the door, Beth stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Daryl's lips.

   "Hey, Daryl!" A voice called happily from down the hall.

   The pair swiftly broke apart to see Glenn standing a few feet away. Looking between them, his smile faltered as he took in their close proximity and interlocked hands.

   "Whoa," was all he managed to mumble. His eyes wide with shock.

   The three of them stood awkwardly in silence, all avoiding each other's gaze. Finally Daryl cleared his throat and asked, "You here to bring them pizza?"

   Glenn glanced at Maggie and Tara's doorway as if just realizing where he was. "Yeah I am. Are you guys, uh, going in?"

   "We got the door slammed in our face." Beth admitted matter-of-factly.

   "Right..." Glenn's eyes were still glued to her and Daryl's hands. Beth felt Daryl stiffen beside her at the boy’s gaze. She didn't really mind Glenn's shocked reaction to seeing her and Daryl together. After all, he didn't really know them.

   That was probably part of the problem for Daryl, though. People were going to judge them, and in different ways. Beth would just be viewed as some silly girl who had bad judgment. But Daryl? Daryl would be viewed as some sort of creep. He would get the brutality of whatever disapproval came their way. She squeezed his hand tighter.

   "You gonna knock?" She asked Glenn; maybe more aggressively than she should have.

   "Oh yeah, sorry!" He quickly stepped in front of them and rapped his knuckles against the door.

   "No, get the hell out of here if you're gonna-" Maggie flung the door open, then abruptly stopped yelling as she saw that it was Glenn standing outside of her apartment. "Hey, Glenn!"

   Beth didn't waste any time. Tugging on Daryl's hand, she shoved past Glenn to get inside of Maggie's apartment. Glenn nearly dropped the pizza as he stumbled forward but Beth couldn't bring herself to care.

   "Beth!"

   She turned to see both Tara and Shane standing in the kitchen. Every single person in the room looked uncomfortable, besides Maggie.

   Maggie looked livid. "Get out of my apartment," she hissed through gritted teeth. Not to Beth though, all of her wrath seemed to be directed at Daryl.

   "No," Beth's voice was firm. "We're not leaving until you listen to what we have to say." Beth glanced over at Daryl, his face carefully blank. She wished she knew what he was thinking but his eyes revealed nothing.

   "Beth I'm more than willing to talk to you about this. In fact, we _need_ to talk about it. But I don't want him in my apartment. Trust me, I know more about him than you do and this is a mistake."

   "You don't even know what 'this' is!"

   "Plus you don't actually know anything about me," Daryl defended. Beth fought back a proud smile and settled for squeezing his hand for the hundredth time today.

   Maggie narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth, probably to yell at Daryl. Glenn interrupted.

   "Uh, no offense but before everything here gets started would you wanna pay? Not sure I should be here for this."

   Her sister gasped. "No you can't leave yet! You've been inside their apartment! Go ahead, tell us what it's like. Drugs lying around? Random hookers coming out of bedrooms?"

   "Maggie!" Tara sounded almost offended by Maggie's words. Beth felt an overwhelming sense of love for the girl she could have called a second sister.

   "You know it's true!" Maggie wheeled around, looking offended herself at Tara's tone of voice. "Glenn, tell them!"

   Glenn cleared his throat and side eyed Daryl nervously. Beth felt an overwhelming sense of dread at what was about to come out of the man's mouth.

   "Well, she's actually not that far off. I mean, it's just that there have been drugs on the table before when I've come in. And a fair share of chicks walking out of one of the bedrooms." Glenn seemed to think for a minute before squeaking out, "They're probably his brother's though! And all the girls came from one room so they were probably his brother’s too!"

   Daryl actually laughed at Glenn's whispered "sorry". The guy looked genuinely ashamed to be spilling his secrets.

   "Guess you couldn't resist the power of Maggie," Beth muttered bitterly. She wasn't feeling quite so forgiving.

   Glenn turned bright red. His eyes never left the ground.

   "Listen," he shoved the pizza into Maggie's hands. "Pizza's on me, okay? I've gotta go."

   With that Glenn scurried past Beth and Daryl, careful not to touch either of them. Beth was fairly certain she heard him start sprinting once he got into the hall.

   Beth took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself before she spoke. "Maggie, please sit down." Her voice was soft, almost pleading. If Maggie would just listen to her then she could make her understand.

   "I'm not sitting anywhere until he leaves."

   "He's not leaving!"

   "Well then I don't want to talk."

   "That's bullshit and you know it."

   "No it's not!"

   "Yes it is!"

   "No it's not!"

   “Yes it is!”

   “No it’s not!”

   " _Yes_ it is!"

   "Enough!" Shane's deep voice cut into their arguing.

   Both Beth and Maggie blushed a deep shade of red. They knew they were arguing like children. But it was just because that was how Maggie treated her!

   "Maybe he really should leave," Tara added cautiously. "Just so that you guys can talk."

   Daryl had been completely silent but the warmth radiating off of him next to her. It made her feel strong. "I ain't going nowhere unless Beth tells me to."

   That set Maggie off again. "You'll leave when I say you leave! This is _my_ home and I've got two cops here who'll arrest you for trespassing."

   "Maggie," Tara warned for the second time. "Don't you dare do something that you can't take back."

   "You mean like my sister?!" Maggie turned back to Beth and Daryl. "The other night; you were a mess, Bethy. So if he didn't do anything to hurt you, what happened? It was like 2 AM! You didn't even let her spend the night after?"

   The last question was delivered with a withering look to Daryl.

   "Shut up, Maggie, you don't even know what happened."

   "Have you slept with him?"

   "It's none of your business!"

   "So yes."

   "I didn't say-"

   "No," Daryl interrupted Beth's defense. "We haven't had sex. Is that what you want to hear? Beth and I... I ain't gonna do anything to hurt her. You don't know shit about me, you don't know shit about us, and you don't even know shit about my brother. So stop projecting whatever issues you got with men onto me."

   Maggie faltered. Her mouth hung open at his words. Daryl wasn't perfect, he could have been nicer about his delivery. But he was right.

   Beth had to fight the urge to throw it back in her sister's face that her boyfriend was no knight in shining armor either. Shane had known about her and Daryl but had kept it to himself. The thing was the Beth knew it was none of her business, unlike Maggie who thought everything regarding Beth was free reign.

   "I need to talk to you outside," Daryl whispered in Beth's ear.

   Maggie stiffened at his words.

   "I want her coming back in here, you understand me? She's not going back to your place."

   "Oh, fuck y-"

   A rough tug on her hand cut Beth off. Daryl was dragging her out the door as quickly as possible. Maggie slammed it shut behind him.

   As soon as they were alone in the hallway Beth threw her arms around Daryl's neck.

   "I'm so sorry," she whispered into the crook between his neck and shoulder. "The things she said about you, it wasn't fair. I don't want you to leave again."

   Daryl pulled back, his brow furrowed with shock. "Why would I leave again?"

   "You know," Beth met his gaze with an open earnestness she'd never given anyone before. For some reason, she just always wanted to be honest with the man standing in front of her now. "You get so in your own head and then freak yourself out. I don't want her words making you think I'm too good for you or something. I don't want you to leave again."

   Beth held her breath as Daryl's eyes careful surveyed her. She didn't know why she felt scared all of the sudden. Maybe it was just the memory of her panic when he'd disappeared still fresh in her mind.

   Finally, Daryl leaned down and pressed his lips against hers gently. She wasn't sure she would ever get over how good they felt against hers. Their thin roughness such a contrast from her own. Everything about this man was rough. Except for the way he acted with her.

   It sent a chill of excitement down Beth's spine.

   "I really am sorry," Daryl whispered against her lips.

   "'S'okay," Beth's face broke into a wide grin. They really should have been talking about what to do next.

   But Beth could've cared less. Leaning slightly forward to close the gap between them, she wrapped her arms tighter around Daryl's neck. This was more than enough for the moment.

*******

   Watching Daryl disappear around the corner, Beth took a deep breath and knocked.

   He had been reluctant to leave her. It had taken a few minutes of assuring him that she would be fine to get him to even grunt an agreement. Beth had had to bite back a smile at that.

   It was funny because he had been the one to suggest that she should speak to Maggie alone. Beth had scoffed at first, leaning away from him with her arms still wrapped around his neck. But it had only taken her a moment to realize that he was right.

   If Daryl came back in there with her then the arguing would just pick up where it left off. Maggie and Beth would just be throwing empty words back and forth, like children. She felt embarrassed about it but that was just how it was with her family.

   Beth had been on her high school's debate team and yet... When it came to Maggie it was a matter of constant, "uh huh, nuh uh".

   Still, he had to have asked her at least five times if she was sure before finally letting go of her. Then he turned his head to look back at her every few steps. Finally Beth giggled and shooed him away.

   It made her feel secure in herself again. She could handle Maggie, no problem.

   Tara was the one to answer the door. Her friend gave her a tense smile before stepping back so Beth could enter.

   Maggie sat on the couch; arms crossed and lips pursed in anger. Shane hovered awkwardly in the kitchen still but Beth refused to look at him for too long. It would only make her unnecessarily angry. The fact that he had the audacity to try and get in between her relationship with Daryl, Beth knew he was just another person who saw her as a child that needed to be coddled. He didn’t know jack about her.

   "Is he gone?" Maggie spat out, seeming disgusted to even be speaking about Daryl still.

   She was in for a shock then because Daryl wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. And all Beth wanted to do was talk about him.

   "Yes," she mimicked Maggie and crossed her arms in front of herself. "I don't appreciate how you spoke to him."

   Maggie opened her mouth to protest but Tara cut her off.

   "Mags, just listen to her."

   The look that passed between the two friends would have shrunk a lesser woman. Tara wasn't phased though. She simply raised her eyebrows at Maggie's stormy expression. The two girls stared each other down for a moment. Beth could practically hear the silent conversation that passed between them. Shane stood uncomfortably off to the side. Served him right.

   Finally Maggie sighed in defeat. "Fine, spit it out."

   Beth ignored her tone and spoke calmly.  

   "We met at the bar he works at. I'm not telling you which one," that was directed at Tara. "He was- well, I can see why you might have a bad impression of him. Daryl can come off a little rough. But once you talk to him, Maggie, once you spend time with him-"

   "Let me guess, he's a totally different person."

   Beth couldn't help but flinch at her sister's tone. It wasn't like Beth didn't know how naive she sounded. Hundreds of girls before her had probably given the same speech about a "bad boy" to a disapproving family member. She just needed Maggie to understand that this was different, that _he_ was different.

   "I know. I get it. Really, I do." Beth cautiously moved to sit on the couch next to Maggie. Her legs tucked underneath her so that she could look into her sister's eyes pleadingly. "But you know me. You know that I'm a good judge of character. I just need you to trust me!"

   "It's not that I don't trust you, Bethy," Maggie's expression had softened but she didn't look any more convinced. "You're so young. You think you understand the world but you don't"

   "Neither do you," Beth hoped pointing this out wouldn't set her off again. "You're barely older than I am. I know you think you've got all this wisdom that I don't but it ain't true."

   "I know things about Daryl that you don't."

   She couldn't even hold her laugh back at that one. "No you don't, Maggie. Are you talking about the drugs? The criminal activity? 'Cause I knew about most of that before our damn first date. We can talk to each other. I understand him and he understands me."

   That _did_ set Maggie off again, "You telling me that none of that bothered you just shows me how naive you really are!"

   "You don't even know him!"

   Maggie scoffed out a humorless laugh.

   "Daddy did things that were just as bad when he was young. How come he deserved to start over but Daryl doesn't?"

   "Speaking of Daddy," Maggie's eyes narrowed. "How're you gonna tell him about all this?"

   "I'm not." Beth's tone was firm and left no room for argument. "Telling you was enough for now. It'll only cause unnecessary panic between all of them."

   "It should tell you something that you're unwilling to tell your family about him." Maggie looked triumphant at that remark, like she had discovered something that Beth hadn’t already considered.

   Beth felt too tired to argue. "Maybe. But I've made my decision and no matter what they find out, I'm sticking to it." She paused. "Are you gonna tell them?"

   "No," Tara cut in. "Maggie, it's not your place to tell anyone about her personal life if she doesn't want you to."

   Maggie rubbed her eyes vigorously, as if it would clear her mind. She slowly looked between the three people in the room with her, weighing their expressions. Tara and Beth both shared a look of solidarity. For that, Beth was grateful. Shane simply shrugged. The man was clearly out of his element.

   "I need to think about it," Maggie finally spoke. Beth's heart dropped and she started to argue with Maggie before she was cut off. "That's the best I'm giving you right now."

   Beth couldn't hold back an annoyed sigh. There was nothing she could do though, at this point it was in Maggie's hands. But Beth was sure she would never forgive her if Maggie told their parents about Daryl.

   An awkward silence hung heavy in the air. No one seemed to know what to say next. Finally, Beth broke it.

   "I'm leaving then."

   "Are you going home?" Maggie didn't try to hide the accusatory tone in her voice.

   "No," Beth bit back. "I'm going to spend the night at my boyfriend's. Just like any adult would."

   She saw Maggie grit her teeth, but that was all. Beth wasn’t about to wait for her sister’s disapproving response. Striding purposefully through the apartment, Beth opened the door, then quickly slammed it shut behind her.

   Her feet only made took her a few steps down the hallway before she sunk against the wall in exhaustion. Checking her phone, she was surprised to see that it was barely 10 o'clock. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed next to Daryl and fall asleep.

   So that was where she went.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the big reveal! Well, the first one at least. Beth and Daryl are going to have to tell her parents at some point, ya know! Next chapter will have some serious Bethyl alone time so there's that to look forward to! As always: Comments are appreciated and loved! ALSO TWO WEEKS UNTIL WE GET TO SEE THAT BETH IS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY ALIVE AND A BAD BITCH!


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